


Reincarnated Love

by MorningBreak42



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 07:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 67,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26968528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorningBreak42/pseuds/MorningBreak42
Summary: What if before the Mikaelsons were turned, Kol had a great love, who was spelled by Esther to reincarnate every time she died? Join Brenna on her journey through the centuries to modern day Mystic Falls
Relationships: Kol Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79
Collections: The Vampire Diaries, The Vampire Diaries Fanfiction





	1. The Beginning

**Hey guys, this is the first fic I've written in quite a while, leave a review or shoot me a message, I aim to have the next chapter** **up by tomorrow** **night! Let me know what you think**

* * *

**985 A.D.**

"Do you think that if the children turned into wolves on the full moon they would be fully grown wolves or cubs?"

"Darling, where do you come up with this?"

Brenna giggled as she rested her head on Kol's shoulder. It was the full moon and all the villagers were huddled in the caves as the men turned into beasts above.

"Let me know when the stench of my brother becomes too overwhelming for you Brenna and come hang out with us girls," Rebekah called from across the cave.

"Oh my dear sister, Brenna could never tire of me, I am simply too handsome," Kol smugly replied.

"Well that's my leave," Brenna scoffed as she stood up with a smile and walked away from Kol and over to Rebekah. She sat down next to her twin sister and smiled at Rebekah, who smiled back before she went right back to glaring at her sister.

Tatia spotted Elijah across the cave and a bright smile came to her lips, "sorry to leave after you just came Brenna but…"

"Go, sister! Do not fret over me, I have Rebekah, go and talk to him." Tatia smiled and pecked Brenna on the cheek before running off and Rebekah moved closer to Brenna, taking Tatia's place beside her. As Tatia moved towards Elijah she was cut off by Niklaus.

Brenna could feel Rebekah scowling next to her and she reached out to grab her hand, "Bekah you cannot blame my sister, Niklaus does his utmost to monopolise her whenever she moves to talk to Elijah." As Brenna said this, Tatia let out a flirtatious laugh at something Niklaus had said and placed her hand on his chest. "Well, you cannot blame her entirely at least."

"Your sister is dividing my brothers, she has no class, the trollop."

"Bekah!"

"Oh do not worry, it is not a reflection upon you. I mean, your sister took Elijah and Nik, and that left you to chose from either Kol or Finn, Henrik is too young. And I don't particularly see you being interested in Finn, he is a dullard, so that left you with one choice. Although if I can read my brother well, I do believe he only flirts with Tatia to make you jealous. You did know Nik before you knew us, I believe he thought no one would dare challenge him for your affections. I don't believe he could have imagined your sister would cling to him like a leech."

"Rebekah you are telling tales, I am merely friends with Nik, you all know that. Besides I am engaged to wed your brother, I do not intend to ever look at another boy again."

"No harm in looking Brenna, a bit of admiring never hurt anyone," Rebekah stated as Brenna's eyes locked with Niklaus'. As if he had a radar, Kol appeared by Brenna's side at the next instant, breaking their eye contact.

"What are you two ladies plotting this time," Kol inquired taking a seat on the ground next to Brenna and taking her hand. "Tired yet darling? We can go to sleep over there."

"Kol, you know I can not do that, I do not want to anger my father, he has one daughter with a child and no husband, the last thing I need is for him is to be worried his other daughter may fall victim to the same fate."

"Sounds enticing to me," Kol breathed against Brenna's cheek as Rebekah crumpled her face and stalked off toward Elijah. "I knew that would do the trick. I do believe my darling sister, Bex is jealous of the time I spend with you."

"Kol, could you do the thing again, please? Make me a flower," Brenna asked ignoring his other comment.

"Darling, anything for you," Kol smiled as he picked up a handful of dirt and whispered some words under his breath. He opened it up to reveal a beautiful light pink camellia flower. "There you go, your favourite," he said as he brushed her cheek to place the flower behind her ear. "A beautiful flower for an even more beautiful girl.

"I spoke to Helga the other day," Brenna said looking down.

"Take anything that old hag says with a grain of salt love."

"Well she delivered me some quite grim news," Kol hummed in interest, "she told me that I would die of fever within the month. Kol, she foresaw Tatia's husband falling in battle and that came to be true, what if she is right about this?"

"Darling it was not that difficult to predict your sister's loss of a husband, she was married off to a warrior, it's hardly a surprise that he fell. No doubt she would have predicted the same for you, had your fathers plan for you to marry come to fruition. But as you very well know, after many days of your endless arguments, that arrangement was called off, now I didn't see Helga predict that. She just likes to stir up worry in the village."

"If you say so. Thank you, Kol. I think I am just going to go to sleep now," Brenna said grimly as she stood up. "I'll see you at the break of dawn, my love." Brenna kissed Kol on the cheek and walked over to where her family was preparing for the night.

* * *

"Darling, wake up. Brenna," Kol hissed as he shook Brenna awake. "Come and watch the sunrise with me," he whispered and Brenna smiled and stood up, taking his hand and leaving the cave.

"How about down to the river?" Brenna suggested,

"You read my mind love," Kol replied as Brenna giggled and leaned into him.

Brenna and Kol reached the river's edge and sat down, watching the sunrise above the tree line. "I always loved the sunrise, the idea that we made it through another day, survived another full moon. It's victorious."

"Remember when we snuck out to the cave entrance all those moons ago to watch them turn?" he reminisced. "Father got so mad that I put you in danger, we were not even betrothed then and I believe he already preferred you over me. He always has a soft spot for the lovely women he knows." Brenna smiled at the memory. "We should probably head back, people will be starting to wake up right about now."

"You head back so we don't get in trouble, I'll be a couple of minutes behind you."

"As you wish darling. I love you, Brenna," Kol said as he kissed her. "I am counting the seconds until we are married and I can call you my wife. See you in a couple of minutes," Kol said to a beaming Brenna.

"I love you Kol," Brenna shouted out to him, unable to wipe the smile from her face. She took one last look at the sky and stood up and started walking. She did not get very far until Helga caught her eye. "Helga, are you alright?" Brenna queried as Helga started muttering under her breath. Just as Brenna took a step toward her, her head felt like exploding and she grabbed it in surprise letting out a yelp. "Helga?!" she yelled as her vision started blurring.

The last thing she saw before she collapsed was a mop of blonde hair running toward her, yelling her name.


	2. The Curse

"MOTHER!" Niklaus screamed running into the caves

"Be quiet boy, have some respect you fool," Mikael barked in response. Mikael then caught sight of the body in Niklaus' arms, "what have you done boy! What have you done!" he screamed at Klaus as he ripped Brenna from his arms rushing her over to Esther.

"Father I swear I did nothing. I saw her and Kol leave the cave before daybreak so I followed them. Kol left, but it was Helga. It was Helga. She did this. Not me. Mother I swear, this was not my doing."

"Helga, did you say Niklaus? What would Helga want with Brenna?" Esther asked, checking the unconscious Brenna over.

"I do not know mother, she was chanting at her, it's nothing like what you and Kol do, it seemed different. Brenna started screaming and then when Helga stopped she just collapsed."

"Go get Kol, NOW! And bring Brenna's family." Klaus nodded and ran deeper into the caves.

"What is this Esther? We cannot lose this girl, we would lose our son if she dies, you know as well as I the depth of his feelings towards her," Mikael confided in her.

"I heard rumours, Mikael. Rumours of Helga's intentions towards this girl, I did not think they were true. Helga works in the name of an ancient being named Silas, doppelgangers of him and his love exist in order for nature to be balanced. Tatiana is one of these doppelgangers. Brenna should not exist, the doppelganger should not have a twin. I heard Helga wanted to eliminate Brenna, to restore the balance that Brenna disrupted. Mikael, you must get her out of here, now, before everyone comes. Helga's spell didn't kill her, I need to know what it did, I cannot have her body interfered with."

"Body?" Mikael snarled, "she is not dead, do not refer to her as a body, she is to be our daughter, I will not lose another daughter Esther," he warned as he scooped her body up.

"Brenna!" Kol's voice echoed through the caves.

Esther nodded and then replied "go, get our future daughter out of here, quickly" as Mikael exited the cave.

"Brenna!," Kol's voice called as he reached Esther, Tatia and Brenna's parents racing behind. "Where is she!" Kol roared as Esther placed a hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off.

"Kol I need you to…"

"Mother?" Elijah's voice called as the rest of the Mikaelson siblings made themselves known, "what has happened?"

"Brenna has been affected by some form of magical affliction, she is alive but I do not yet know what state she is in," Esther explained.

"Where is she? Let me see her, I need to be with her, NOW!" Kol interrupted. Esther began muttering words under her breath and Kol felt a wave of calm wash over him. "Mother, do not dare use calming spells on me, I need to know," Kol breathed.

"I do not know what the spell is that has been used against the girl and I do not believe it is wise to be around her until I determine it is not harmful," Esther continued on as Brenna's mother's eyes filled with tears.

"Who did this?" Elijah queried.

"It was Helga," Klaus replied. "I saw Helga do it."

"Helga?" Kol asked in shock, "Brenna confided in me last night, Helga told her she would die of fever within the month! Mother, is she going to die?"

"Finn, Elijah, I need you to go find Helga, bring her to me. Kol, I promise you I will do everything in my power to save her," Esther comforted her son.

Elijah spared a glance at a shocked Tatia and placed his hand on her back and offered her a small smile before leaving.

"Where is my sister?" asked Tatia.

"Mikael took her, I need to examine her to ensure the magic is not harmful to anyone." Esther looked at Brenna's family. "I swear I will treat this with the utmost urgency, she is to be my family as well," with that Esther exited the cave Kol, Nik and Tatia following swiftly behind, leaving Brenna's parents with the other villagers. They soon reached the Mikaelson home and entered it only to see Brenna sitting up awake and Mikael standing over her.

"Brenna?" Kol, Nik and Tatia whispered and she looked over and gave a shy smile.

"Hi," she whispered back as Esther ran over to her.

"What happened child? You looked half-dead not long ago."

"She woke up when I was carrying her here, she seemed perfectly fine and was able to walk, perhaps the spell didn't work?" Mikael suggested. Esther looked at him briefly and then snapped her head back to Brenna and grabbing her hands swiftly.

"Ahh!" Brenna complained as her hands started to heat up.

"Mother?" Nik growled and took a step forward as Kol put a hand across his chest to stop him.

"It's fine Nik, mother's doing a spell, she's not hurting her," Kol reassured as Brenna hissed in pain and Tatia looked away with tears.

"I still feel the spell within you. I do not know what the spell is at this stage, I'll need to do more work on you to know for sure. But it is there, lying dormant as if it's... waiting for something. Nonetheless, you don't seem to be in any danger this moment. You can do as you wish I will not keep you here child. But if you start to feel a change or anything peculiar, come straight to me do not stop anywhere else," Brenna nodded. "You're lucky you won't miss the feast, my child," Esther smiled as she helped Brenna stand and Brenna gave a small giggle in response.

Tatia shot a beaming smile at her sister which was just as eagerly returned by Brenna, as Tatia ran to give her sister a hug. "Do not ever do that to me again sister, I thought for sure I had lost you, what would I do without my dearest friend and twin?" Tatia giggled causing Brenna to embrace her tighter before looking at Nik and Kol over Tatia's shoulder and smiling before returning to the embrace. "Do you feel well enough for the celebration?" Tatia enquired.

"Why of course! Surely you didn't think I would miss such a momentous occasion?" Brenna teased before linking arms with Tatia making her way out of the home, but not before pecking Kol on the cheek and affectionately squeezing Nik's arms.

* * *

"I do love Samhain, Tatia! It's such a glorious time of year. It is a beginning of the winter but what a marvellous way to enter the cold," Brenna spoke. Her sister merely hummed in response and Brenna turned to see what had her so distracted. "Oh do not tell me you seek out dear Elijah, Tatia! If you know you want Elijah then you must tell Nik, so he leaves you two be."

"Oh please, Brenna, I know Nik has no interest in me. I held great affection for him once but I know he cares for you, not me. Anyway, I chose Elijah."

"Oh please Niklaus does not fancy me, I am betrothed to his brother Tatia."

"You being betrothed doesn't stop him fancying you and you know it," Tatia smirked as Brenna shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

"Come on let's dance, we can look for Elijah," Brenna says dragging Tatia to the bonfire. Brenna and Tatia begin dancing but not long after Tatia locked eyes with someone and raised her mask smiling. Brenna looked over to see it was Elijah smiling back. Before Tatia could make a move toward him Klaus grabbed her, kissing Tatia as Brenna watched Elijah stalk off. Brenna caught Kol's eye and ushered him to her but not before whispering to Tatia "over by Loki the pig."

"Hello darling," Kol smiled grabbing her waist, "feeling alright?"

"I've never felt better now that you're here," Brenna smiled kissing her love before dancing the night away with him.

* * *

There was an enormous amount of cheering from everyone in the village as Loki the pig was brought out of his cage, destined to be the first sacrifice to appease the gods. Brenna always hated watching the sacrifice and so turned to gaze into Kol's eyes and he leaned in to kiss her. However, just as Loki the pig was slaughtered, Brenna pulled back with a yell and slammed her hand to her chest in pain.


	3. The Death

**New chapter! Please let me know your thoughts, hope you like it.**

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As Brenna yelped, Esther's eyes went wide and she ran to her as Kol caught her. "What happened?"

"I don't know, all of a sudden I felt this pain in my chest, AHH!" Brenna cried.

"Mother, the spell. It needed a blood sacrifice to activate it. That's why you could feel it dormant this morning," Kol realised. Esther immediately grabbed Brenna's hand as Brenna grimaced.

"It's been activated, I can feel it. Helga made us think she did the spell incorrectly, she knew today was Samhain. Helga knew there'd be a sacrifice." Esther felt Brenna's forehead, "you're burning up."

"The fever," Brenna breathed. "She said a fever would kill me. Am I going to die?"

"No," Kol answered bluntly whilst Esther stayed silent.

"I'm scared. I'm scared Kol, I don't want to die. We aren't even married yet."

Others at the festival hadn't noticed the commotion between the three.

"Kol, take her to our house before people start to notice," Kol nodded scooping her up in his arms as Esther raced to Mikael.

Klaus saw Esther whispering to Mikael and turned around to see Kol walking off with a limp Brenna in his arms and ran toward Esther.

"Mother! Brenna?" he exclaimed.

"She's been taken down by Helga's magic…" Esther began, and before she could finish Klaus had run off after Kol and Brenna.

"KOL! Kol!" Klaus yelled as he caught up.

"She just collapsed Nik," Kol breathed as he raced to the cottage. Klaus walked beside them and was stuck staring at Brenna and decided to reach out and sweep some hair off of her face causing Kol to yank her away and Nik to roll his eyes.

Kol reached his home and laid Brenna down and held her hand as Klaus stood over by her feet. "She's burning up," Kol said as he felt her forehead.

"I'm dying aren't I?" Brenna panted.

"No," Klaus and Kol replied at the same time. "No I won't let that happen," Kol added. "I'll let mother work out what is going on and then I'm not going to stop until I find a spell to fix this," he comforted.

"Move Kol," Esther ordered as she and Mikael entered. Kol obeyed and Esther again grabbed Brenna's hand to get a feel of the magic within her. "It's not a type of magic that I am familiar with, I can not determine the spell. Kol, fetch my grimoire." Kol ran to fetch the book.

"Here, mother."

Esther flicked through the grimoire and found the spell she was looking for and began chanting, as she finished, Brenna sat up gasping.

"What did you do mother?" Kol enquired as he helped Brenna lie back down.

"The magic was strong, it would have killed her by tonight. I just slowed down its effect, it's not gone but I've delayed it a while." Esther informed.

"So I'm still going to die? AH!" Brenna winced as she tried to sit up again.

"I will work non stop to find out what magic this is so I can reverse it."

"I'll help," Kol interjected.

Brenna turned to look at Nik and smiled as he crouched down beside her putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and Kol glared as Nik rolled his eyes again.

* * *

"So do you think you'll be able to marry Kol now?" Tatia asked, supporting Brenna as they walked.

"Oh my dear Tatia, I can't marry him until they find out what is happening to me. Besides I've hardly seen him the last month, he's been too busy pouring through spell books."

"Well, whilst you're being ignored I've spent plenty of time with Elijah," Tatia giggled.

"Oh I know," Brenna smirked.

"Tonight's our first full moon since I refused Niklaus, I just do not want it to be uncomfortable in the caves tonight."

"I do not think it will be, he's been spending most of his time helping me, he hasn't been moping. I think he knew it was inevitable."

"Oh, look, I see Elijah, are you alright here or do I need to help you somewhere?"

"Just walk me to the tree sister, I just want to be alone for a while," Tatia nodded taking her to the tree before skipping off.

* * *

Brenna woke with a start as Niklaus shook her shoulder.

"You fell asleep, love."

"Oh sorry, my bad. Thank you for waking me Nik. Where were you today? I was looking for you," she asked as he helped her up.

"I was painting," he whispered as Brenna's eyes went wide.

"But Mikael!" Brenna exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I found somewhere hidden," he smirked. "You should probably head home," he said as he pulled a leaf out of her hair. "Everyone is preparing to head to the caves.

Brenna nodded, "I'll meet you down there?" she asked and he nodded as she smiled and left.

* * *

"Kol!" Brenna said alarmed staring at the entrance of the cave and he ran toward her. "Nik and Henrik, they're not here yet. And the moon is up!"

Kol's eyes widened and he turned to the entrance in hidden fear. "Nik is a big boy he can take care of himself," he snapped as Brenna glared at him.

"What about Henrik, huh? And Nik... he's still your brother, it is not wrong to care," she snapped back before storming off to Rebekah as Kol huffed staring after her.

"Nik isn't here Brenna," Rebekah told her alarmed.

"I know Bekah, he'll be fine, he's brave," she said grabbing her friend's hand and sitting down next to her.

* * *

"Oh, look at this one Bekah," Brenna pointed out a necklace to Rebekah trying to keep her mind from wandering to Niklaus' welfare.

"It is quite lovely," Rebekah said enchanted and reached out her hand to touch it, but as she did, it burned her. She looked to the side to see Ayanna, "Ayanna, you burned me," Rebekah whispered as Brenna inspected her hand.

"That is not yours to touch," Ayanna replied smugly causing Brenna to glare.

"MOTHER!" Nik's voice roared.

"Is that Niklaus?" Rebekah asked as Brenna nodded. "Something is wrong," she continued before turning to look out the window, only to see Nik carrying Henrik's limp body. "Henrik!" she yelled as she grabbed Brenna's hand and rushed outside.

"MOTHER!" Niklaus roared again. As they ran outdoors they both stopped short seeing little Henrik's body covered in blood as Esther and Elijah rushed from other areas of the village to Henrik's side. Brenna turned to look at Rebekah and flung one arm around the shocked girl's shoulder and rested her other hand on her arm in comfort.

"No, no! What happened?" Esther questioned panicked.

"The wolves," Nik whimpered, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Save him," Esther demanded of Ayanna. "Please there must be a way," she said as Rebekah and Brenna crept closer to Henrik's body.

Ayanna placed her hand on the boy's face before sighing "the spirits will not give us a way Esther. Your boy is gone," she said to a now distraught Esther. Both Brenna and Rebekah crouched down on either side of Niklaus, Rebekah stroking his hair and Brenna hugging him as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"No! No! NO!" Esther kept repeating in anguish.

* * *

Brenna stayed at the Mikaelsons that night to help Rebekah grieve, Kol had barely spoken a word to anyone and Brenna was well aware that the best course of action was to give him space to privately grieve his baby brother. Rebekah, on the other hand, needed attention and someone by her side. Brenna woke up in the middle of the night to Rebekah shaking her and ushering her to follow. Brenna obeyed and she and Rebekah came across Esther, Ayanna and Mikael talking.

"Please Ayanna, I implore you. You must call upon the spirits on the next full moon.

"I will not," she replied to Mikael. "It is a crime against nature."

"Ayanna, we have already lost too much," Esther broke. "We cannot lose anymore," she said in reference to her children, causing Brenna to narrow her eyes and look at Rebekah grimly. "The spirits can help us find a way to protect our children." Brenna had had enough of eavesdropping and smiled at Rebekah before pulling her back to the bedroom.

* * *

"Brenna, I don't know how to tell you this, it's strange, but Esther asked for my blood today," Tatia said to her sister as they were lying on the ground, watching the clouds and trees.

"What?" Brenna sat up asking.

"She said she needed it to make her family superior to the werewolves that harmed them. I just thought of how devastated I would've been if it were Elijah dead and not Henrik. So I gave it to her, no questions asked.

Before Brenna could respond she got hit with a wave of nausea began to feel weak and instead of probing her sister further she merely mumbled an ok and lay back down panting.

* * *

It had been days since the Mikaelsons had been seen. Villagers had seen them burn in the sunlight when they reached out of doors or windows. It had been days since Brenna saw her best friends and Kol. Brenna had been getting weaker by the day but hiding it from her family. Eventually, the pain became too much and she found herself knocking on the Mikaelsons door. Esther opened the door so only her eyes were visible.

"Yes my child?"

"The spell, the one you cast to help me. It's not working anymore, ahh," she hissed grabbing her chest.

"Let her in mother," she heard Kol demand behind the barely ajar door.

Esther huffed before resigning and opening the door. "She can come in, but only if you and the others stay in the other room. You can't go near her now. You might endanger her."

Brenna saw Kol's dejected face in the shadows as he nodded and left as Esther helped Brenna through the doorway and into the main room to lie down.

"I am so sorry child, this is my fault," Esther said sadly, brushing the hair from her cheeks. Kol then entered the room. "Kol! Leave. You cannot be trusted," she hurried.

"I will not hurt her mother, I swear to you. I would never. The others are staying back there. What can be done?"

"I was keeping her alive. I was sending my own life force into her. It's how she stayed alive. We were sharing energy to keep the spell from claiming her."

"Why isn't it working now?" he enquired sweeping hair off her clammy forehead.

"I had to withdraw it. I needed my full power for the spell for you and your siblings and father. I couldn't let it stay in her." Kol looked at her shocked. "I did find something though. A spell she will come back healed. But she will have to die for it to work."

"What?" Brenna said panicked.

"It will work Kol, she will die, but she will come back, I promise. What do you think dear?" she asked Brenna.

"I'll come back straight away?" Brenna asked.

"No, you'll be born to another family, but you won't be sick."

"But then I won't see Kol again! I can't die," Brenna said panicked.

"I swear to you, dear. You will see Kol again. He will appear just the same as he is now," Esther reassured a confused Brenna.

"Do you promise I will see Kol? He'll be there?"

"Sweetheart, he'll always be here now."

"Ok. I suppose we have no choice. What is the harm? I will die anyway. I trust you." Esther and Kol nodded and he held her hand as Esther chanted and then Brenna's eyes fluttered closed for the last time.


	4. The Accident

**Hey guys, thanks for the love. Please continue to leave reviews! xx**

* * *

**Mystic Falls, May 23 2009**

It was 6.45 am when Brea heard Elena's alarm go off. She rolled over to try and get back to sleep but as she did, Elena turned the radio up even louder.

"Elena!" she yelled throwing the closest book at the wall the two shared in protest. However, Elena just turned it up louder and Brea could hear her bouncing around her room and groaned at her rude awakening before dragging herself out of bed.

Brea eventually made her way out of her room glaring and ran straight into Elena.

"Can't we wake up at 7 for once? Please," Brea argued as Elena laughed and skipped off ahead.

"We can't both go into school with high ponytails you know," Elena retorted as Brea self consciously grabbed her hair. "Brea, we wear the same stuff all the time, we don't have a choice in the cheerleading uniform, so we can at least have different hairstyles," Elena smirked.

Brea looked down and smiled victoriously. "Fine, I'll change my hair, but you have to change your shoes," she giggled as Elena looked down groaning when she realised they were wearing the same shoes and she stalked off to change them.

Brea decided to wait for her twin and checked her phone, seeing a text from her boyfriend, Chad Fell.

C - Need a lift to school?

Brea replied

B - That's ok I'm good, I'll see you there

He sent back

C - Easy, love you

When she read the text all she could do was sigh and decided to ignore it, putting her phone away as Elena pranced out of her room muttering about how she should've checked the shoes first.

As the pair got downstairs Elena saw Aunt Jenna pouring coffee and almost ran at her, eager for a caffeine hit and Brea made herself a tea instead.

"Hey," Aunt Jenna greeted them both.

"Hey," Brea replied back as Elena was too distracted by the thought of coffee to greet their aunt.

"Jeremy locked himself in the bathroom again. Does he think we don't know what he's doing in there?" Elena sighed as Brea pretended to dry retch over by the sink causing Elena to roll her eyes at her.

"He's 14, they don't think," Jenna quipped back with a smirk.

Just when Elena thought Jenna was distracted she lunged at the coffee pot, but Jenna was quick and grabbed her hand. "Hey you'll get me in trouble," Jenna whispered.

"Morning," their mom called as she came downstairs causing Elena to gasp and drop the coffee pot before spinning around.

"Nearly got busted," Brea smirked.

"Morning mom," Elena smiled innocently as their mum kissed her cheek before doing the same to Brea.

"Brea, let's go, we've got to get to practice. See you later guys," Elena called to Jenna and their mom before leaving, Brea hot on her tail.

* * *

"Caroline Forbes told me that my ponytail lacked juj," Elena relayed to Brea, Bonnie, Matt and Chad.

"I don't even know what that means," Matt laughed in reply.

"Aren't I glad I switched my ponytail this morning," Brea giggled causing Elena to glare at her as Chad put his arm around her shoulder, which resulted in her tensing.

"It means Caroline's driving Elena crazy, as usual," Bonnie explained to Matt.

"There are perks to being best friends with the cheer captain, Lena. You should try it. I'm in, I could help you out. You've got to go past the friend zone into the best friend zone," Brea laughed teasingly as Elena shuddered.

"I'm good. I've got Bonnie. Plus I think I can only just handle this amount of her, I don't need more," Elena laughed.

"So as I psychically predicted, flare jeans are making a comeback," Bonnie stated changing the subjects, causing Elena to grin, she loves flare jeans.

"That doesn't make you psychic, Bonnie. It means that you watch to much 'Top Model'," Elena scoffed.

"Say what you want. But I've got a bad feeling about the bonfire tonight."

"I think Bonnie has superpowers," Brea interjected causing all four other to stare at her. "Super, predictive fashion powers."

"Doesn't matter anyway, we can't go," Elena said referencing her and Brea. Both Chad and Matt turned to face them with unhappy faces. "I know, but Jenna's in town and my parents want to do a family night."

"Plus I don't really want to go, we haven't seen Jenna in ages. I miss my hyper aunt," Brea threw in with a smile at her sister.

"You guys have to come," Chad said grabbing Brea's hand. "Please Brea?"

"I agree, come on guys," Matt added, causing the two twins to look at each other uncomfortably. "See if you can sneak out," Matt suggested with Chad nodding. Matt proceeded to kiss Elena and Chad tried to do the same to Brea but she turned her head to smile at Bonnie, causing him to miss and kiss her cheek with a dejected look.

"We gotta go see coach Tanner," Chad said. "Love you," he said to Brea before leaving.

Brea and Elena turned to face Bonnie to see her giving them knowing looks which they returned with confused ones.

"What?" Brea asked.

"Oh come on Brea, you guys didn't say it back. They both said 'I love you' and you both said nothing." she explained. "You can't string them along, guys. If you aren't into it anymore just… tell them."

"Yeah I know," Brea agreed whilst Elena stayed quite. "Anyway, I see the scary Caroline Forbes so I'll catch up with you guys later," she promised before walking off towards her best friend.

* * *

"Elena, call mom ok. She'll come to pick us up. I'll meet you on the road. I'll just be a minute," Brea said to an irritated Elena at the bonfire party that they both ended up going to. Elena nodded and walked off. Brea sighed as she spotted Chad by himself next to the bonfire, she took a deep breath and walked over to him. "Hey, can we talk?" she asked.

Chad nodded sadly, "sure," he said grabbing her hand pulling her away from the crowd. "Let's do this."

Brea looked up at Chad sadly. "Look Chad I…"

"I just don't get it," he interrupted. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, you did nothing. I just can't do this. I'm sorry. It just doesn't feel right. I just don't think you're the one I'm meant to be with."

"Well, that hurts."

"Chad…"

"No, I get it, didn't know how long I'd be able to keep one of the popular Gilbert girls anyway. I should've been this coming."

Brea looked at him sadly, cupping his cheek. "It's not that I don't think you're a great guy, or that I don't care for you. I just... can't… I'm sorry," she whispered as he nodded, kissing her head. "I'm going to go," she whispered.

"Are you ok to get home?" he asked sadly.

"Yeah, Elena's calling mom, she had a fight with Matt so I'm fine, Chad. I'm so sorry," she said one last time before walking off.

"Elena," Brea called out as she spotted her sister talking to a dark-haired stranger. As he looked at her his eyes widened.

"This is impossible," he whispered, "Brenna?" he asked louder.

"Umm yeah, do I know you?" she asked back as Elena continued to stare at him curiously. Damon paused as if he was listening to something.

"Both human, how is that possible," he whispered. "How are you alive?"

"So what do you want?" Elena asked ignoring the strange exchange between the man and her sister.

"Ah…" the man smirked, thinking as they heard a car honk and they all turned to look at it.

"That's our parents," Elena exclaimed.

As the twins turned back around to Damon he captivated both of their eyes. "I want you both to get everything you're looking for. But right now I want you to forget that this happened. Can't have people knowing I'm in town yet. Goodnight Elena, Brenna," he said before he zipped away and the memory of the meeting was wiped from the sister's minds.

"Let's get in," Brea said as their parent's car pulled up.

"Wait," Elena said grabbing Brea's arm. "What happened with you and Chad?"

"We broke up. He knew it was coming. I'm fine. You should've seen his face though, Lena. I've never seen anything like it. The fact that I, me, could make someone that sad, it's just, scary you know," Brea huffed as Elena looked down conflicted. "But it's for the best Elena. I know it was," she said with a weak smile at her sister before getting in the car. Brea settled into her seat, shutting her eyes as her mom quizzed Elena on the night.

* * *

"LOOK OUT!" she heard her mom scream and she jolted awake as the car swerved to the side and off Wickery Bridge as she and Elena screamed before fainting. They soon woke up coughing. The twins looked at each other before realising that the car was filling up with water.

"Dad," Brea stuttered, but he ignored her.

"Dad," Elena said more forcefully.

He turned to look at his daughters before reassuring them that "we're going to be ok. I promise."

Elena and their dad were madly trying to escape the car but Brea was motionless before she whispered "mom." Elena stopped and looked at their unconscious mother before trying to free them even harder.

"Come on Brea, we have to get out," Elena urged and Brea nodded and started banging on the car. The water was fast filling the car and as they were spluttering the water went above their heads and the car was filled.

After a little longer of struggling Brea and Elena stopped and just hugged each other as their dad kept trying to open the door.

Elena yelled out for their father underwater a few times before he looked over at his daughters and stuck his hand out toward them and they grabbed on tight whilst still hugging each other as he shook his head in defeat at their situation. The girls looked at each other and then back to their father nodding to reassure him. Simultaneously they both mouthed "I love you," to their father before their grips on each other loosened as the girls passed out from lack of oxygen and their lives forever changed.


	5. Pilot

Brea sat on Elena's bed flicking through the family photo albums, whilst Elena sat by the window writing in her diary. This had been the twins daily ritual since the accident. Since the accident, it was rare to see them apart. They spent a lot of time together before the accident but since then, they'd practically been joined at the hip.

"Ready?" Brea asked as Elena sighed, looked at her and nodded. Brea left the room and went back to hers so they could both finish getting ready for the day.

They both met up again downstairs and were greeted by a frantic Jenna.

"Toast? I can make toast," Jenna suggested.

"It's all about the coffee Aunt Jenna," Elena said whilst pouring a mug.

"Or the tea if you don't want to end up a jittery caffeine addict like Caroline," Brea quipped and Elena smirked.

"Is there coffee?" an emo Jeremy asked as he arrived downstairs.

"There's tea? Drink the tea Jer, join the cult with me," Brea suggested as he snatched Elena's cup from her hand before shooting her a confused look.

"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" Jenna offered.

"I'm good," Elena replied as Jeremy snatched the money and handed Brea half.

"Thanks, Jer," she said and he grunted in reply.

"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?" Jenna rambled. Brea raised her eyebrows and looked at Elena before tapping her wrist like she would a watch.

Elena smiled and spoke for both of them when she asked Jenna "don't you have a big presentation today?" and Brea nodded.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at… now," Aunt Jenna panicked when she realised the time. "Crap!"

"Then go," Elena said.

"We'll be fine," Brea reassured with a smile at her aunt as she ran out the door.

"You ok?" Elena asked Jeremy as Brea rolled her eyes.

"Don't start," Jeremy scoffed as he walked off.

"What did I do?" she asked Brea.

"You have to be his friend," she suggested. "Not a concerned parental figure. It's not what he needs. He needs someone to talk to, not someone to tell him what to do. He's a teenage boy, they're not meant to be pleasant to be around."

"You're so good with him lately, you always have been. I feel like everything I try is wrong," Elena said exasperatedly and Brea rubbed her shoulder. "Bonnie's out front," Elena smiled and the two girls grabbed their stuff and headed outside.

* * *

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic."

"I've always believed in you Bon," Brea sarcastically encouraged from the back, earning an eye roll in return from Bonnie.

"Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't all that, I know, crazy. But she's going on and on about it. And I'm like put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger"

"Let's not forget the flare jeans coming back into fashion," Brea threw in trying to stop Bonnie realising that Elena was deep in thought and not listening to her at all.

"And I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands."

"Yeah, I'm not sure about that one Bon, might be a stretch."

"Elena!" Bonnie said getting her attention when she realised she was tuned out. "Back in the car."

"I did it again, didn't I?" Elena asked. "I… I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling us that…"

"That I'm psychic now."

"Right. Ok. Then predict something. About me," Elena tested.

"I see,' Bonnie started before hitting a bird causing Elena to gasp and Brea to scream.

"What was that?! Oh, my god! Elena, Brea are you ok?" Bonnie asked concerned.

"It's ok. I'm fine." Elena reassured as Brea sat there gasping and panting.

"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere."

"Really, we can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life," Elena said as Brea gave a small nod still in shock.

"I predict this year is going to be kick-ass. For both of you. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you guys are going to be beyond happy." Bonnie said making Brea give a small smile to her friend.

Brea shook her head and calmed herself down before speaking up, "Bon we don't need to know about our future, predict the lottery numbers for us instead. I promise we'll split the winnings with you," she sung making the other two girls laugh.

* * *

The girls were at school now and Bonnie was rambling about the "major lack of male real estate. Look at that shower curtain on Kelly Beach. She looks like a hot… can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

"No, that's over," Elena confirmed.

"Definitely over," Brea nodded. "Need to find a new saying Bon, be revolutionary."

"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." Bonnie then caught sight of Matt and the twins turned around to see him staring at Elena.

"I'll see you guys later," Brea said as she walked off after a retreating Matt. "Matt!" she said tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention away from his earphones.

"Hey," he said hugging his friend. "How are you feeling today? All good? Any pain? Did you sleep ok?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I mean I'm still a little sore but I'll live. How's Chad?" she asked. She hadn't heard or seen Chad all summer.

"Still a little pissed, not going to lie. He spent the summer at a football camp."

"Really? I didn't know that… is that Jeremy?" Brenna asked spotting him smoking in the stoner pit.

"Oh yeah, and that's my little sister attached to Tyler's face," Matt grimaced as he spotted Vicki with Tyler.

"Urgh, that's so gross. Attack our siblings time?" Brea suggested with an eyebrow wiggle.

"I'll pass, don't really want to get involved with whatever Vik's doing with him. I'll see you later though," Matt said walking off as Brea stormed toward Jeremy.

"Jer!"

"What?" he snapped.

"I'm not Elena and I give you a free pass most of the time because you're my brother, but please, not at school Jer," Brenna said ripping the cigarette out of his mouth throwing it on the ground. "Hey, Ty," she greeted as he walked past.

"Hey Gilbert, looking good as per usual," Tyler replied flirting to which she just rolled his eyes, he was deliberately trying to annoy her brother. Jeremy just groaned and stormed away from the two of them.

"I'll catch up with you later Ty," Brea said chasing Jeremy.

"Seriously, he's all over Vicki and then he's going to hit on you in front of me as well? It's not cool Brea," Jeremy said in a huff.

"Jeremy, good batch, man," a guy Brea had never met called after Jeremy as he stormed past him in the hall.

"Jer, he's my friend, that's disgusting, he's not hitting on… wait, what was that?" Brea growled, "Jeremy!" she yelled as he walked into the men's room. Brenna stopped out the front of the bathroom to wait for him, but as she stopped, Elena stormed straight past her and into the men's bathroom. "Wow, where did you come from, you have good ears, my twin," Brenna spoke to the now closed-door, before following in, only to see Elena with a tight grip on Jeremy's face. "Woah, Lena easy huh," she says pulling Elena off Jeremy's.

"Great, it's the first day of school and you're stoned," Elena snaps as Brea looks down disappointed.

"No, I'm not," he denied

"Where is it? Is it on you?" Elena asked as she tried to turn his pockets out.

"Stop all right, you need to chill yourself, all right?" Jeremy fought back.

"I'm out of here," Brea sighed as she watched them argue as she turned and left to find Caroline. 

* * *

Mr Tanner's class was the most gruelling of the day, Tanner was a nasty man.

"Stop staring, its creepy," Brea hissed at Matt as she caught him staring at her sister for the millionth time.

As Brea was leaving the classroom she bumped into the new kid. "Oh bugger, sorry Stefan," she laughed and walked off. She got a few steps before she halted and pivoted around to face him. "I'm sorry, did I just call you Stefan, sorry. That's weird. We've never met. Umm, what's your name?" she asked.

Stefan wiped the shocked look off his face and replied "oh, it's uh, Stefan actually. You got it right."

"That is spooky," she muttered before gasping to herself, "maybe I'm the physic, maybe I should get the lottery, not Bonnie." She smiled and turned her attention back to Stefan as she walked forward to shake his hand, "I'm Brenna, but my friends call me Brea. Have we met? You seem awfully familiar."

"Yeah I get that feeling as well but I don't think we have," he said with an awkward smile.

"Oh ok, cool. I'll see you later then, Stefan," Brea said politely before rushing off, shocked that she would know the new kid's name before had he even told her.

* * *

Brea met up later with Tyler and Matt at the Grill. They were just talking football, so Brea tuned out until Vicki came to the table with food.

"Do you need another refill?" she asked Tyler flirtatiously. Brea caught eyes with Jeremy across the Grill and gave him a small smile which just got a scowl and eye roll in return.

"I'd love one," Tyler replied flirtatiously and Vicki left.

"I would've liked a refill as well," Brea muttered, shaking her empty cup that Vicki had ignored whilst being preoccupied with Tyler.

"Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister," Matt begged.

"I'm not hooking up with your sister," Tyler replied.

"Liar," Brea hissed under her breath so only Tyler could hear and he kicked the side of her leg under the table. "Ow!"

"You're such a dick," Matt replied.

"Cheers to that," Brea replied lifting her glass before scowling at Tyler, "oh wait, no, I can't, my glass is empty."

Bonnie and Caroline spotted the three of them and came over to join their table.

"Who wants to play pool?" Brea asked the table. Tyler and Caroline took her up on the offer and they left, leaving Matt and Bonnie alone. After a while, everyone's attention turned to the door when Elena walked in with the new guy, Stefan. Brea bit her lip and looked at Matt in concern as he walked up to talk to Stefan and Elena. Caroline left the pool table to sit with Elena and Bonnie in order to interrogate Stefan, but Brea stayed with Tyler, and Matt joined them as they continued their game.

"You gotta stop staring Matty," Brea said. "My sister lost a real top quality man in you, my friend. You have to show her what she's missing," she smiled as she shoved his arm lightly.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked with a laugh.

"Building his confidence, you can take on the world Matt!"

"Stop," Tyler laughed as he threw an arm around her and turned her around carefully so she didn't spot Chad sitting with a girl in the back of the Grill. "She's right though man, it's not healthy." 

* * *

The next day was another one of Tanner's boring classes. Brea was tuned out, she knew all about the Battle of Willow Creek. She didn't remember studying it, but she felt as though it was burned into her brain. Tanner went around the class asking about the number of casualties in the battle. No one knew and then he asked Elena and when she didn't know he started berating her and telling her he wasn't going to be lenient this year, causing Brea to regain attention.

"Hey watch it!" Brea yelled in defence of her twin.

"Do you know Miss Gilbert?" Tanner questioned.

"346 casualties," Brea started as Stefan answered at the same time but he continued when Brea stopped to turn around and stare at him "unless you're counting local civilians."

"That's correct," Tanner confirmed. Tanner pointed at Stefan "Mister…"

"Salvatore," Stefan filled in. Brea then continued tuning out when she saw Tanner's focus was no longer on Elena or her.

* * *

"Why are we here Elena? I just wanted to hang out with Aunt Jenna tonight," Brea whined as they walked into the Falls Party. Elena and Bonnie ignored Brea's complaining and continued their conversation about Stefan.

"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie said.

"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty," she nodded.

"Poor Matty," Brea rudely said. "Sorry, Lena."

"He has that romance novel stare. Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Bonnie mocked and Elena and Brea laughed.

"Ok Bon, you're officially cut off," Brea declared. "So where is he?" Brea asked.

"I don't know," Elena replied. "You tell me you're the psychic one," Elena retorted to Bonnie.

"Oh nice one," Brea applauded her sisters come back and turned to wait for Bonnie's response.

"Right, I forgot. Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait," Elena interjected. "You need a crystal ball." Brea spun around and found an empty beer bottle on the ground and handed it to Bonnie laughing. As Bonnie gripped it her eyes widened and she stared straight at Brea.

"What?" Elena asked.

"That was weird," Bonnie said whilst Brea looked alarmed. "When I touched you, Brea, I saw a man, but from a long time ago. And you were with him but you guys had on like super old clothes."

"What?" Brea asked wide-eyed with a nervous laugh. "Like legit, I have dreams like every night that are like from different time periods. Can you see my dreams, Bon? Tell me more."

"The man, he was holding your face. You were smiling. It was you, but it was so long ago." Brea stared at Bonnie, freaked out as she described Brea's recurring dreams perfectly. "I'm drunk," Bonnie reasoned. "It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it."

Brea was still freaked out and Elena was getting concerned, staring at her sisters face so Brea tried to put them both at ease by saying, "yeah well I've had that dream for a while so I probably told you about it before."

"Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill," Bonnie said leaving a little more relaxed than she was a moment ago.

"Elena I don't think I ever told Bonnie about the dream. I've told you, I know that, but I don't remember telling Bon. How could she see that?" Elena could only shrug, she had no answers either. As Elena turned around she got a shock as Stefan was standing right behind her. "Well, catch you guys later, see ya, Stefan," Brea said quickly hurrying away from them to give them time alone.

Brea walked over to Jeremy laying her head on his shoulder as he drank, as he stared at Vicki and Tyler walking off into the woods together.

"Please don't be sad Jer. It makes me sad," Brea whispered. He looked down at her before sighing and wrapping his arm around his sister's shoulder pulling her into his body.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Jeremy asked, "I need to blow off some steam." Brea nodded and they got up walking through the path in the woods. It didn't take long to find Tyler and Vicki up against a tree and Brea cottoned on as to why Jer wanted to go for a walk. She tried to turn around and get them to go back the way they came but Jeremy saw them and made a beeline towards them.

"Hey leave her alone!" Jer yelled at Tyler as he noticed Vicki was trying to shove him off.

"You know, you're starting to get on my nerves, Gilbert," Tyler said making his way towards Jeremy.

"Just go Tyler, get the hell away from me," Vicki snarled as Brea raised her eyebrows at Tyler.

"Wow. Vicki Donovan says no. That's a first," he snarked before walking away.

"Don't be an ass Ty," Brea hissed storming off after him, leaving Vicki and Jeremy alone. "What the hell was that huh? That's not ok Tyler," she snapped but he just ignored her.

Brea got back to the bonfire and met up with Bonnie, Caroline and Matt.

"Matt I swear to god, you've got to stop staring at them," Brea pleaded as she watched him stare at Stefan and Elena.

* * *

A while later Brea noticed Elena standing by the bonfire by herself as Stefan had disappeared. Brea sighed, she knew Matt needed some closure and a chance to talk to her so she pointed it out to him and he smiled and walked over to her twin. Not long after Brea caught sight of a stumbling Jeremy walking into the woods, she caught Elena's eyes, who saw the exact same thing and they gave each other the look, before following him into the woods.

"Jeremy! Jeremy!" Elena yelled after him, storming through the woods.

"Easy Lena," Brea called as she stumbled her way over tree roots. "Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" she growled as she tripped again.

"I don't want to hear it!" Jeremy snapped back at his sisters.

"Yeah, well, too bad!" Elena yelled back as Jeremy fell over. Watching her brother fall up ahead made Brea let out a laugh, that sent her tumbling to the ground as well.

"Vicki, no! Oh, my god, it's Vicki!" she heard Jeremy gasp in shock.

"Oh, my god," Elena breathed.

"What? What? What's happening?" Brea asked quickly pulling herself up and running up to them. "Oh, my god, Vicki!" she gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth as she saw Matt's sister groaning on the ground covered in blood.

"Somebody help!" Elena and Brea yelled as they got back to the bonfire, Jeremy and Elena who were carrying Vicki, laid her down on a table. "Matt!" Brea screamed.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" he exclaimed as he came up and saw the state of his sister.

"What happened to her? Somebody, call an ambulance!" was shouted out by a whole bunch of people. But Brea's eyes were stuck on Stefan's as his face wasn't one of shock, but of recognition and anger. He then suspiciously ran away from the party, Brea looked over at Matt and saw he was watching the same behaviour Brea was and looked just as confused as her.

* * *

As they loaded Vicki into the ambulance, Brea stood by Matt's side, an arm around him in comfort, as he stood, still in shock about what had just happened. "Come on," Brea said gently as she led Matt over to the ambulance so he could join his sister. "It'll be ok, Matty," she reassured as the doors were shut and the ambulance drove off and Brea then made her way over to Elena and Bonnie.

"Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that" Brea heard Bonnie say as she came to stand next to her friends. "But whatever I saw when I touched Brea or what I think I saw, I have this feeling…"

"Bonnie, what?" Elena asked.

"That it was the beginning of this somehow," she finished as Brea and Elena stared at her in confusion.

* * *

Elena and Brea walked up to Jeremy who was swigging beer out of the bottle.

"You ok?" Elena asked.

"Dude there's cops here, be subtle," Brea said nudging Jeremy as he took another swig.

"We called Jenna, she's on her way," Elena told Jeremy. Jeremy just ignored both of them and threw his bottle over his shoulder.

"Litterbug," Brea half-heartedly teased.

"People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer," Elena said turning the conversation serious. "They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too." Brea winced, poor choice of words.

"I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary. Is that… is that supposed to be you moving on?" Jeremy questioned. "The only one who is really trying is Brea. But she's just doing it for the both of us," Jeremy countered. "So don't lecture me, this is how I'm coping."

"Mom and dad wouldn't have wanted this," Elena said sadly as Jenna pulls up.

"Come on," Brea said grabbing Jeremy's elbow and helping him stand as she walked him to the car.

* * *

When they got home Jeremy walked straight over to the couch and Brea followed him, grabbing a blanket to wrap around them both as Elena trudged upstairs. The two of them just stared at a photo of their parents and silently mourned them together. Brea heard Jenna come up behind them, but she elected to leave them in peace.


	6. The Night of the Comet

"So, Lena, writing about Stefan today?" Brea teased as she watched Elena write in her journal. This caused Elena to look up, smile coyly and look down again as the girls giggled.

"Let's go," Elena laughed, putting away her diary as the girls stood up and left her bedroom, only to run right into Jenna.

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" Jenna asked grabbing the twins arms.

"Depends where you're going," Elena shrugged.

"I like it. Cute outfit, very adult," Brea nodded with a wink at her aunt.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference. Hair up or down?"

"Sexy stewardess," Elena said in reference to Jenna hair up and "boozy housewife," to the hair down causing Brea to gasp and look at her sister in amusement.

"Up it is," Jenna decided and smiled at Elena. "You're feisty today," Jenna added.

"And slightly mean," Brea giggled.

"I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free. Walk on sunshine, and all that stuff."

"There's a new guy in our little Lena's life," Brenna whispered in Jenna's ear causing Jenna to turn and give a wide smile and giggle with Brea.

"Where is Jeremy?" Elena asked, changing the subject before Jenna could start questioning her.

"He left early. Something about getting to woodshop early to finish a birdhouse." Elena and Brea both gave Jenna the same look. "There is no woodshop, is there?" Jenna asked deflated as Elena shook her head.

"Don't stress Jenna, he's probably just at the hospital visiting Vicki. I don't think he'll be getting up to too much trouble today," Brea said comfortingly.

* * *

Elena and Stefan spent the whole of Mr Tanner's history class in the morning making googly eyes at each other. As they were staring at each other, Brea noticed Tanner start to walk up to Elena's desk. She tried to reach out and kick the back of her chair but her legs were too short.

"Are we bothering you, Mr Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?" Tanner asked. Elena's head whipped around to look at Tanner guiltily and she shook her head. As soon as Tanner turned around to the front, Elena spun around to glare at Brea. Brea raised her eyebrows in defence lifting her legs out straight to show her that she couldn't reach causing her sister to roll her eyes and turn back around.

* * *

Brea walked up to Bonnie and Caroline after class finished, only to come in mid-way through a conversation about Bonnie's so-called, 'physic powers'.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" Caroline asked.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch."

"Does your Gram's have a broomstick, oh are you going to grow a wart on the end of your nose!" Brea joked laughing.

"My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Salem witches though, I mean if it's true, that'd be really awesome Bon," Brea admitted as Caroline quickly nodded her head in agreement next to her.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Caroline drooled.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?" Bonnie smiled.

"Um, what! What guy, Care? How did you not fill me in!" Brea gasped nudging Caroline.

"I don't know, I was drunk," Caroline said in reply to Bonnie. "Super hot guy Brea, dark hair, the bluest eyes. We just made eye contact for a really long time across the grill. He was so hot."

As they walked through the halls they crossed paths with Tyler, who grabbed Brea's arm pulling her away. Bonnie and Caroline just kept walking, not caring the Brea was being dragged away.

"Ty! What the hell?" she asked smiling as she spun around to walk beside him, but that fell as soon as she saw something behind him. Tyler turned to see what she was looking at, his eyes widened as he grabbed her arm and moved her to a different hall so she wouldn't have to stare at Chad flirting with a girl up against his locker.

"Sorry, Brea I didn't…"

"It's fine. I broke up with him."

Tyler nodded and then continued with the reason he dragged her away, "you've got to control your brother Brea."

"What'd he do now?" she sighed, running a hand down her face.

"Ha, he threatened to kill me," Tyler scoffed.

"HE WHAT!" Brea roared in anger.

"I was flirting with some girls and he got all up in my face about Vicki and then threatened to kill me. I can't restrain myself much more Brea. I don't want to hit him because he's your brother and he's just a kid, but I'm an angry guy. I'm going to snap soon."

"Please Ty. Please don't. He's going through such a hard time," Brea said desperately as her eyes teared up. "He's struggling so much and we can't help him but please. Please. Don't hit him. It'll just make things worse for him."

Tyler freaked at his upset friend and grabbed her shoulders, "Brea, hey, hey. I won't hit him first at least. I will defend myself if he comes at me. But I won't make the first hit ok?" he offered and Brea nodded.

* * *

Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and Brea were sat at a table outside the Mystic Grill as they discussed the upcoming comet and Stefan.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom," Bonnie threw in. "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Spooky," Brea smiled, waving her fingers in Bonnie's face, only to have them slapped away playfully.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline said dismissively. "So then what?" she asked Elena, wanting to resume the conversation about Stefan.

"So then nothing," she shrugged.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?" Caroline asked doubtfully.

"Nope. We didn't go there. Brea!" Elena snapped at her sister causing Brea to look up from her drink. "Stop blowing bubbles in your drink, you are driving me insane," Brea smirked and then continued to blow bubbles in her cola causing Elena to reach over and snatch the drink from her hand.

"Hey!" she whined in protest but Elena just ignored her.

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline kept pushing. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."

"I don't want to hear the smut," Brea grumbled, crossing her arms.

"We just talked for hours," Elena said handing the cola back to a sulking Brea with a fake smile.

"Ok, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already!" Caroline suggested.

"Caroline! Please," Brea spluttered as she chocked on her drink. The last thing she wanted to talk about was her sister's sex life.

Caroline rolled her eyes and continued, "Ok it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!" This caused Brea to kick Caroline under the table.

"Profound," Elena replied with an eye roll before looking down for a moment before she sighed and began gathering her things.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline's right."

"No, she's not," Brea stammered.

"It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it, instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do," she said standing up grabbing her sister's hand pulling her up.

"No, no, no, I don't want to be there for that," Brea yelled as Elena started dragging her away. "What about my drink? Elena, you can't do this to me! Guys," she called out, hoping Bonnie or Caroline would help her, but they'd already started a new conversation, leaving Brea resigned to her fate.

* * *

"Ok, you forced me here, but why do I need to come in?" Brea pleaded with Elena.

"Moral support," she breathed.

"Ok, I get it, we're close, but I didn't think we were the sort of twins who had to witness each other's first kiss with a new guy," she retorted causing Elena to roll her eyes and ignore her before ringing the bell. Brea then grabbed the door knocker and brought it down, only for the door to swing open on impact as it was not properly closed.

Elena then crept in. "Stefan?" she called.

"Elena!" Brea whispered harshly, "no one let us in." This didn't stop Elena as she continued to walk into the house. Brea groaned before stepping over the threshold and catching up with her sister. Brea spotted Stefan's bag from school and pointed it out to Elena, to show her he'd been home recently.

"Stefan?" she called out again. Brea and Elena then proceeded to look in awe at the living room in front of them before they heard a creaking sound and turned to see the front door now wide open.

"Creepy, let's go," Brea suggested. As she said this, a raven flew into the house causing the girls to spin around in fright and almost slam into a man's chest.

"I..I'm sorry for barging in. The door was…" Elena said as she turned around to see the front door now closed, "open."

"You two must be Elena and Brenna," the man said.

"And you're Damon? Stefan's brother?" Brea asked before whispering under her breath "how do I know that?" as he nodded with a smirk.

"He didn't tell me he had a brother," Elena stuttered, "he told you?" she asked Brenna causing her to shrug in response.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag," Damon retorted.

"Brag," Brea snorted, "yeah, right. Oh my god, I am so sorry," she then said in shock unaware of how those words slipped out of her mouth.

"Please, come," Damon ushered the girls further into the house. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

"Wow, this is your living room?" Elena asked in shock and the twins looked around in awe.

"Living room, parlour, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste," Damon confirmed. "I see why my brother's so smitten," Damon said, drawing Elena in. "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" Elena asked a little upset as Brea glared daggers at Damon.

"Yeah," Damon remarked. "Katherine, his girlfriend?"

At this Brea's eyes widened in recognition, "Katherine?" she asked as Damon tilted his head at her as if he was studying her before smiling in confirmation.

Damon then turned his attention back to Elena, "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet," Damon said as Elena popped out a nope. "Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now." This caused Brea to resume glaring. "Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end"

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end," Elena scoffed.

"I'm a fatalist."

"Stop it," Brea snapped. "You guys clearly have your own issues, don't bring her into it." Damon just smirked at her causing her to get madder.

"Hello Stefan," Damon said without looking away from the two girls causing them to spin around to look at him.

"Elena, Brenna," Stefan coldly greeted them, too busy glaring at Damon. "I didn't know you two were coming over."

"I know, I should have called I just..." Elena started.

"Oh don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Aren't they Stefan?" Damon interrupted making Brea close her eyes in irritation. Stefan didn't say anything just continued glaring at Damon causing the girls to look at him funny. "You know, I should break out the family photo albums, or some home movies. But, I have to warn you, he wasn't always such a looker," even though Brea wasn't sure about Damon and he was making her mad, she inadvertently let out a giggle causing him to smile.

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you," Stefan cut in before going back to ignoring Elena.

"Yeah, we should probably go," Brea said trying to interrupt the silence.

Elena turned to Damon, "It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Yeah nice to see you, Damon," Brea somehow felt wrong using the word meet, as she felt she already knew him.

"Great meeting you, too, Elena. Nice seeing you, Brenna," he replied before kissing both girls hands, causing Elena to raise her eyebrows at the antiquated gesture, but Brea seemed to be at ease with the act. Elena and Brea moved to leave but paused in front of Stefan hoping he'd say something to Elena.

"Stefan?" Elena asked, "Stefan?" he didn't say anything however, he just moved to the side to let the girls pass causing them to both looked shocked as they left the boarding house.

"What an ass!" Brea scowled as they got in the car.

"I don't really want to talk about it Brea," Elena breathed as they drove away.

* * *

Later that night they were talking to Jenna about the weird encounter.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena scowled.

"Family issues are right," Brea confirmed. "That was the weirdest interaction between siblings I've ever seen."

"Well at least it's an ex-girlfriend," Jenna tried to comfort. "Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues. Or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." Elena crinkled her face at this.

"Aunt Jenna you have even worse taste in guys than I thought," Brea smirked as Jenna poked her tongue out as she reached over to pick up an apple. "Hey, Jer!" Brea called as he walked through the back door.

"Jeremy," Aunt Jenna called before running after him as he tried to head upstairs. "Jeremy, where were you?" she asked as Elena began shaking her head in disappointment.

"Lena, give Stefan a chance. I mean you heard that story from Damon, and they clearly have issues. Give him a chance to explain," Brea suggested as Elena nodded and looked down in thought. After a minute, Jenna made her way back into the kitchen without her apple. "Jenna did you throw that at him!" Brea laughs and Elena smiles joining in the laughter as Jenna sat down sheepishly.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

_"_ _Katherine, must we stay here?" Brenna asked._

_"_ _Yes, we must my darling sister. Those Salvatore men look positively delicious," Katherine giggled in the carriage._

_"_ _Katherine, this is the first place I died. It is not a place I ever wanted to return to," Brenna countered._

_Katherine's eyes grew serious. "You will not die here. I promise. No one knows we're here, Brenna. I go by a different name. Word won't spread to the originals."_

_"_ _It's not them I fear Katherine, they are my family too."_

_"_ _But I am your sister."_

_"_ _Yes, you are. That is why I do not tell them where you are and avoid them for the lifetimes I spend with you. No matter what turmoil it may cause my heart," Brenna scowled as she looked out the window of the carriage._

_"_ _I'm sorry," Katherine said feeling guilty for her sister's sadness. She immediately perked up when the carriage entered the Salvatore Estate. "We're here Brenna, Emily!" The three girls were helped out of the carriage and Brenna couldn't help noticing Katherine look Stefan up and down._

_"_ _You must be the Pierce sisters," Stefan greeted._

_"_ _Please, call us Katherine and Brenna," Katherine said with a curtsy._

At this Brea flung her head up as she awoke from her dream. Why had Stefan been in her dream? And why was Elena's name Katherine? Why was her dream set back in what seems the 1800's? Why was it so real? Brea dismissed these thoughts and stumbled downstairs to get a glass of water.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena and Brea were walking around town handing out programs for the comet festivities for tonight. Elena and Bonnie were very enthusiastic but Brea was a bit out of it. Bonnie and Elena were also discussing Stefan's lack of communication following the weird meeting the day before.

"Brea!" Bonnie laughed.

"Yeah?"

"You've been zoned out for like 10 minutes," Elena said. "Everything ok?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just a weird dream last night, it kind of messed with my head. I'll see you later," Brea replied, spotting Caroline as a way to get away before Elena could ask more questions. Caroline started to strut towards something but stopped abruptly as Brenna caught up.

"Did you see him?" she asked.

"See who?"

"The hot guy from the other night. He was just there," Caroline said pointing.

"Not there now."

"I can see that!" Caroline snapped as Brenna smiled with eyebrows raised, "sorry," Caroline grumbled. "Let's just hand out these stupid flyers."

* * *

A few hours later Brea and Caroline walked up to Elena and Bonnie handing them candles and linking their arms as they walked. Brea turned around when she realised Elena wasn't with them anymore and noticed she was off talking with Stefan. Brea nudged Bonnie, pointing with a smile, before plonking herself down in the seat next to Tyler.

"Hey, Gilbert."

"Hey, Lockwood."

"That's weird."

"Yeah we're first name friends, not last name," Brea laughed as Tyler slung an arm over her shoulder. Brea then saw Elena walk off alone from Stefan. "Oh well, that didn't go well."

"No it did not," he smirked getting an elbow from Brenna. "Grill?"

"Sounds good. We're going to the Grill guys," she announced as everyone stood up to go. "Elena?" she asked concerned.

"I'm fine, let's go," Elena said as she reached the group.

"So think I can win another $20 off you tonight in a game of pool?" Tyler asked cockily.

"In your dreams. I'm winning that money back."

"You're on." Just as they found a table to gather around in the Grill Jeremy came running up to them.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?"

"You're her stalker. You tell us," Tyler snapped.

"Ty," Brea growled warningly.

"I can't find her."

"She probably found someone else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked, immediately springing into supervisor mode.

"Ask him," Tyler shrugged.

Elena and Brea both turned their dagger glares at Jeremy.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy challenged Tyler.

"Are you dealing?" Elena growled angrily.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler mocked.

"She already did. Over and over and over again."

"JEREMY!" Brea yelled.

"Yeah, right," Tyler scoffed.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline butted in. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

"There's no way," Tyler said.

"I didn't even have to force her into it."

"Jeremy that is enough!" Brea yelled getting up, "sorry Matt," she apologised to a shell-shocked Matt. Brea grabbed Jeremy's pinky and twisted it to get him to follow her and Elena followed suit. "Seriously Jer, dealing?" she snapped, shoving his shoulder angrily as they huddled in a corner of the Grill. "Are you joking? I've given you so much freedom to heal your own way, but you're taking it too far."

"Is that your game now?" Elena snarled.

"I'm not dealing," Jeremy denied.

"Well, then what the hell is he talking about Jer!" Brea snapped.

"Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It's clearly having no impact," Elena argued.

"You and Jenna, between the two of you it's enough already. Brea's the only one who lets me be me."

"Nah uh. No way. I'm in their camp now. No more nice, pushover sister. I've had enough," Brea said shaking her head.

"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist, where you'll be forced to deal with it, or to rehab where you'll sit in a group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart," Elena suggested. "Or you could talk to us."

"I vote for none of the above," Jeremy said before walking off.

"Let's just deal with it later Lena, there's nothing we can do for him tonight. I'm going home, I've had enough," Brea huffed and Elena nodded and the girls walked off to go home.

* * *

As they got home they went upstairs to see Jenna rummaging through Jeremy's room.

"It's me the hypocrite patrol," Jenna said as they walked into the room.

"What are you doing?" Brea asked.

"I've become my worst nightmare."

"A frog!" Brea gasped jokingly.

"The authority figure."

"Oh much worse."

"I am violating a 15-year-old's privacy. Jackpot," she said pulling out Jeremy's drug paraphernalia. "I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."

"What brought this on?" Elena asked.

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday."

"Tanner?" Brea asked and Jenna nodded. "Yeah, he is an ass hat."

"You got Tannered. Been there," Elena agreed.

"'Discover the impossible, Miss Sommers'," Jenna said with a man voice, "got it, thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up."

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna," the girls said simultaneously. "Stop doing that," Elena said to Brea as she glared back and shoved her.

"Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy," Jenna said getting upset. "You know, high school, marriage, having you guys. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault." Jenna sat down exasperated. "It's impossible."

"This is just the fear talking," Elena comforted. "You're a little scared, that's all. We all are. I have to go do something." Jenna nodded. "But are you going to be ok?" she nodded again.

"I'm here, I can comfort too," Brea threw in offended.

"Question still stands Jenna," Elena smiled and Jenna laughed at the girls arguing as Elena got up and left.

"Movie and popcorn?" Brea suggested.

"I am so in."

"Beauty and the Beast?"

"Couldn't think of a better one," Jenna said with a smile as the aunt and niece made their way downstairs.


	7. Friday Night Bites

Brea, Elena and Bonnie got out of the car after a torturous car ride of Bonnie expressing her distaste for Stefan Salvatore.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow," Bonnie warned.

"You were the one who said to go for it," Elena rebutted.

"She's got a point, Bon, you did say that," Brea agreed with her sister

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

"Can't do take-backs, Bon," Brea laughed pointing her finger at Bonnie.

"Why the about-face?" Elena asked with a sigh.

"It's not an about-face."

"It's an about-face Bon," Brea agreed with her twin.

"You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field," Bonnie shrugged.

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena laughed.

"Come on Bonnie. You know as well as I do, Elena's a relationship girl. Not a play-the-field girl," Brea agreed with a nod.

"Seriously, what are you not saying?" Elena asked.

"It's stupid."

"Bonnie."

"What?"

"Spit it out," the twins both demanded.

"I accidentally touched Stefan."

"Oh my god, it's the end of the world," Brea said throwing her head back dramatically.

"Let me finish Brea. I just got a really bad feeling."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Is that it?" she asked and Bonnie sighed and tried to walk off, "Bonnie," Elena said sternly pulling her back.

"It was bad-bad!" Bonnie defended.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Brea laughed.

"You know what, I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"Hey! Just one of your best friends I hope," Brea said feigning offence making Bonnie nod her head with an eyeroll.

"I love you for it, Bon, I do," Elena assured. "But I feel good, it's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what, Stefan is a big part of that." Bonnie just nodded her head in understanding and the girls started walking again.

"Good morning Elena," Stefan greeted as he came up to them causing Bonnie to jump and Brea to give Bonnie a wide-eyed look at her strange behaviour. "Good morning Brenna, Bonnie," he then greeted the other girls.

"You can call me Brea you know it's fine," Brea said with a smile.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll catch you guys later." Bonnie said before running away.

"Bonnie wait…" Elena protested but she was already gone.

"She doesn't like me very much," Stefan pointed out.

"No, she does not," Brea confirmed.

"No, she just doesn't know you," Elena said glaring at her sister.

"She'll like you when she gets to know you better. I see Ty and Matt over there, so I'll leave you guys alone. See you later Stefan," Brea said with a smile.

"Look," Tyler said as Brea approached the boys. "There's Elena and her new boyfriend."

"He's nice," Brea said.

"Now what are they doing? Oh, they're walking, walking, walking. Yep. Right into the sunset" Tyler said, taunting Matt.

"Ha! Funny," Brea laughed mockingly.

"You're a dick," Matt scowled.

"Yeah Ty, they only just started dating. I'm still voting for my good friend Matty over here," Brea said, throwing an arm around Matt's shoulder, making him smirk.

"You're just standing there looking like one of those little yard trolls," Tyler continued taunting.

"Gnomes," Matt corrected.

"He's doing the right thing, Ty. Matthew is a gentleman," Brea argued before she leaned closer to Matt and whispered "good one," sarcastically.

"And what am I supposed to do Ty, she made her choice," Matt argued.

"And you're a great guy for respecting that. Ty over here is an ass."

"Let her know she made the wrong one."

"Tyler," Brea warned as Tyler caught the ball they were throwing.

"What are you doing?" Matt irritatedly. "Ty, don't. Ty. Don't. Ty!" Matt yelled, knowing what he was about to do. Before anyone could stop him, Tyler threw the ball straight at the back of Stefan's head.

"TYLER YOU ASS!" Brea yelled. Before the ball could hit Stefan, he quickly turned around and caught the ball about to hit him. Everyone who saw gasped in awe. Stefan then threw the ball back with such force that Tyler grunted when he caught it, attracting even more people's attention. Brea stormed away from the boys in anger walking past Elena and Stefan, "that was awesome Stefan!" she congratulated as she passed, as she walked she began feeling a sense of deja vu.

* * *

As soon as Brea sat down in Tanner's class she fell into a daydream.

_Brenna and Katherine walked outside the Salvatore Mansion to see Damon and Stefan playing a ball sport._

_"_ _What are the rules? What are the rules?" Stefan asked avoiding Damon chasing him._

_"_ _Who needs rules?" Katherine called out._

_"_ _Yes, they do make life very boring," Brenna giggled._

_"_ _Mind if we join you?" Katherine asked._

_"Ah, ok you could, ah, you could get hurt, my brother likes to play rough," Stefan stuttered getting closer to Katherine._

_Katherine giggled at this while walking forward, "somehow I think that you play rougher," Katherine then snatched the ball from Stefan's hands and ran off, taking Brenna's hand so as to drag her along as well as they ran off in fits of giggles._

"Miss Gilbert? Miss Gilbert," Tanners voice snapped her out of her daydream.

"Sorry um what was the question?"

"Pearl Harbour?"

"1941," Brenna answered as Tanner glared.

"December 7th, 1941," Stefan elaborated saving her from the wrath of Tanner.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Tanner said.

"Anytime," Stefan responded.

"Very well," Tanner challenged. "The wall of the Berlin Wall."

"1989, I'm good with dates sir."

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil rights act."

"1964. "

Once Brea determined that the attention was now off her, she looked down at her notebook only to widen her eyes as she realised she had unknowingly written one word all over the page, 'Kol'. Brea's eyes widened and she ripped the page out.

* * *

Brea and Bonnie were warming up for cheer practise when someone cleared their throat behind them. They turned to see Elena and both sprung up off the ground.

"Oh my god, you're here," Bonnie exclaimed.

"Yep. I can't be the sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were, is to do things that were."

Brea bear-hugged Elena and whispered in her ear, "mom would be proud, Lena," causing Elena to give her a wide smile.

"Oh, you're both coming to dinner tonight," Elena said, pointing at Brea and Bonnie.

"I live in that house, you don't need to tell me to have dinner in my own house," Brea giggled.

"I am?" Bonnie questioned and Elena hummed confirmation.

"Us and Stefan. You have to give him a chance."

"But tonight's no good," Bonnie whined.

"Oh, yes it is, Bonnie you're coming. Even if I have to come to your house and drag you," Brea warned.

"Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times," Bonnie asked switching subjects.

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett," Elena laughed. "You're going to be there."

"Fine! I'll go."

"Good."

"Seriously though, where is Caroline?"

"I don't know, it's not like her."

"Everyone is way too scared to start without her," Brea noted looking around at the other unsure girls.

"I'll try her again," Bonnie said dialling on her phone.

Elena spotted an old mustang pull up blaring music and nudged Brea as she spotted Caroline in the passenger seat.

"Uhh.." Elena stuttered pointing the car out of Bonnie.

"Oh my god," Bonnie exclaimed. "That must be the mystery guy from the grill."

"That's not a mystery guy," Elena huffed.

"That's Damon Salvatore," Brea finished.

"Salvatore! As in Stefan?" Bonnie asked as Elena nodded.

'I got the other brother, hope you don't mind," Caroline bragged as she walked past Elena. "Sorry, I'm late girls. I, uh, was busy."

Elena and Brea both glared at Damon before Brea walked up to the car. "She's way too young for you." Damon just smirked before driving off. Brea scowled and walked back to join cheer practice.

"Elena sweetie, why don't you just observe today? 'K?" Caroline suggested causing Bonnie and Brea to glare whilst practising.

* * *

Brea had come down the stairs when she heard Stefan arrive and the three girls and Stefan were now eating pasta that Brea bought from the Grill earlier that Elena was trying to pass off as her own. There was icy silence as Bonnie made the meal awkward.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right."

"He let you on the team! That's awesome Stefan," Brea said excitedly.

"Bonnie you should have seen Stefan today, Tyler threw a ball right at him and…"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie rudely interrupted Elena causing Brea to kick her leg under the table.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested desperately.

"Uh, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."

"No Bonnie, about the witches," Brea said with an annoyed face.

"Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches, it's really cool," Elena said force.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie muttered, causing both sisters to glare daggers at her.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s," Stefan said hoping to start a conversation.

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really?" Stefan asked interested. "Salem witches?"

"Yeah," Bonnie confirmed.

"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan agreed with Elena.

"Really? Why?"

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity."

This comment made Bonnie happy as she agreed. "Yeah, they are."

Brea leaned over to Elena and whispered "he's good," just as the doorbell went. Elena and Brea looked at each other confused as too who it could be. "Not it," Brea called.

Elena rolled her eyes and stood up "I wonder who that could be," she said before walking off and Stefan followed not long after.

"What is taking so long?" Brea asked Bonnie before going to the front door seeing Caroline inside and Damon stepping through the doorway.

"You have a lovely home, Elena. Brenna, lovely to see you again," Damon remarked.

"Thank you," Elena responded.

* * *

"I cannot believe that Mr Tanner let you on the team," Caroline exclaimed. "Oh, Tyler must be seething. But, good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it," Damon preached.

"Not a bad motto," Brea remarked with a shrug causing Damon to smirk.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"I missed summer camp, I caught up," Brea said glaring at her friend.

"We'll work with her. She'll get it," Bonnie agreed.

"I guess we can put her in the back." Both Elena and Brea turned their heads slowly to glare at Caroline.

"You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon noticed.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun, same as Brea."

"Caroline!" Brea yelled in anger as Bonnie and Brea gave looks that could kill while Elena shrunk down in her seat.

"And I say that with complete sensitivity," Caroline said quickly. At this Brea scoffed out loud and stormed up to her room and went to bed.

Brea's dream that night had no images. It was just voices.

_"_ _Always and forever," a girl spoke._

_"_ _I love you," a man spoke._

_"_ _You are the only one I can confide in," a different man whispered._

_"_ _I need your help love," another voice said._

_"Brenna, I give you my word_ _," another man laughed._

These words played on repeat until Brea snapped awake with a gasp before rolling over and falling into a noiseless, dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Where is your sister?" Caroline snapped. Brea just shrugged her shoulders dismissively, not in the mood to talk to Caroline after the previous night. "Look I'm sorry alright. I had no tact. It was rude and heartless and I'm sorry ok." Brea nodded in acceptance, she wasn't in a chatty mood.

"Elena quit," Brea told Caroline.

"She can't quit cheerleading!"

"Well she did, you probably put her off it last night."

"There she is, not in uniform! I'll go talk to her."

"She's not in uniform because she quit!" Brea yelled after Caroline before whipping out her phone and texting 'RUN!" to Elena. Elena saw the message and turned around confused only to come face to face with Caroline Forbes and realisation dawned on her.

* * *

As everyone was cheering at Tanners pep talk, Brea saw Tyler sulk away and followed to find out what was wrong.

"Ty!" she called seeing him with Vicki.

"Is that Jeremy?" he asked Vicki ignoring Brea.

"Wait, no! Ty! No. Leave him alone," Vicki protested.

"Oh, what do you care?"

Brea realised that Tyler was stalking towards her brother and her eyes widened and she ran after him yelling "Tyler Lockwood don't you dare! Lockwood don't you dare! Tyler!"

"Don't look so low," Tyler said as he reached Jeremy at the very same moment that Brea came to stand next to Vicki worried for her little brother. "You can have her when I'm done." At this Jeremy lunged forward and punched Tyler.

"JER!" Brea yelled in concern as Tyler started attacking him and a fight broke out. Vicki and Brea both started screaming at Tyler to stop and Brea's voice was getting more and more panicked. Brea then got hysterical and tried to run at the fight to pull Tyler off her brother but Stefan grabbed her arm before she got too close and pulled her back out of harm's way.

"I'll help, stay out here ok," he reassured her. "Hey, he's down! Enough!" he started yelling at Tyler before catching his fist. Tyler then punched Stefan's stomach, but Stefan didn't even flinch. Elena then arrived beside Brea.

"Jeremy no!" she yelled and Brea gasped as they saw Jeremy swing a broken bottle at Tyler, Stefan threw Tyler to the ground and Jeremy sliced Stefan's hand. Matt then tackled Tyler as Jeremy stared in shock at what he'd done.

Brea and Elena ran to Jeremy. "What the hell, Jeremy?" Elena asked as she grabbed his face inspecting his injuries. "Put your head up, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine!" he snapped back.

"Yeah, you smell fine," she snapped.

"Just stop, ok?" he said as he walked away and Brea snapped out of it and ran after him.

"Jer!"

"Not you too ok, sorry I got in a fight with your loser friend but he deserved it."

Brea just grabbed Jeremy and pulled him into a hug crying. "Please don't do that again," she begged. "I can't lose you too," Jeremy just wrapped his arms around his sister feeling guilty and they stood like that for a few minutes before she pulled away. "Go get yourself cleaned up ok?" she asked and he nodded and walked away. She then let out a breath and returned to the cheerleading group.

"Where have you been!" Caroline yelled at Brea as she arrived.

"Not now, Caroline," Caroline saw the look on her friends face and went up to her pulling her to the side.

"You're shaking," she said rubbing her hands down Brea's arm.

"When Jer and Tyler were fighting. I don't know, I just," she stuttered, "I just can't stop thinking that the way he's acting, the drugs, and just everything. I can't help worrying he's going to end up dead, like mom and dad. I can't lose anyone else Care," she said tearing up again.

"Brea, hey Brea it's ok. Brenna, it's ok. We can do it without you tonight, go home. I'll meet you there after the game and we can have a bit of girl talk," Brea nodded her head and went off to find Elena.

She found Elena storming off from Damon, "he tried to kiss me," she exclaimed as she got to Brea.

"No way!" Brea gasped. "What a major dick."

"You got that right."

Brea scoffed at Damon's arrogance. "Look Lena sorry, but I'm going home. I just need some time tonight."

"Yeah ok. I'll see you at home then."

"Yeah, but, hey, next time ask before you borrow my top."

"This is my top," Elena said confused.

"We bought the same clothes again," Brea said in realisation with a smile. "We suck," Elena just nodded with a smirk. "See ya later," she said walking off.

Brea spotted Tyler about to walk into the locker rooms and stormed over to him and shoved him. "You and me. We're done. Go to hell Lockwood," she spat before storming off home.

* * *

As Brea was walking home, a car she recognised as Damon's pulled up and rolled at the same speed as she walked.

"Need a ride," he asked.

"Nope."

"Come on, I know where you live, I'll drop you. Saves you the walk."

"I'm fine walking, thanks."

"Brenna," he said coming to a stop and she stopped as well and turned to look at him. "There was an animal attack again. At the school. One of your teachers is dead. Get in the car, please. I'd feel awful if you got hurt walking home. Please?" at this she sighed and nodded going to get in the car.

"Thanks, I guess. You can just call me Brea by the way," she mumbled. It was silent for a while as they drove but she caught Damon sneaking glances at her. "Have we met before the other day?" she asked.

"Why would you ask that?" he said with a sideways smile.

"I don't know," she said facing the road. "You just seem really familiar to me. I don't know, I just feel like I know you somehow. Like if I've known you for a while actually," she mumbled again. She turned to look at him only to now, instead of seeing a smirk, she saw a sad face.

"Brenna," he whispered, before clearly changing his mind about what he was about to say and putting his signature smirk back on. "Well Brea, you just remind me of an old friend, a really good one at that," he said as they pulled up in front of her house.

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem, wouldn't want you out there with a murderous animal now would we?" he winked.

"Bye," she muttered getting out of the car and headed inside.


	8. Family Ties

_Brenna sat up in bed fast with a gasp and started crying, Katherine ran into her room._

_"_ _Are you ok?" she asked looking around._

_"_ _I… remember," she whimpered between sobs._

_"_ _Remember what? Who?" Katherine asked sitting on the bed._

_"_ _Rebekah, Elijah, Finn, Klaus and," Brenna stopped. "I remember meeting them, you said with the spell that your witch cast my memories would come back fast and I wouldn't have to wait for them to trickle in. But this was so real Katherine. It was like I was there."_

_"_ _It was real, Brenna. It was real," she sympathised grabbing her hand. "It's always difficult watching you remember. It pains me. I'm sorry Brenna."_

_"_ _I remember Kol."_

At this name, Brea flew up in her bed with a gasp. She'd been having strange dreams for days now. This one was different however, it was from a different time period. The other ones had been from what seemed to be the 1800's. Brea couldn't grasp the time period of this dream, but it seemed early. She took another deep breath and rolled over to get a few more hours sleep.

* * *

"Scumball," Brea whispered.

"Scumball," Jenna repeated louder.

"Scumbucket," Brea whispered to her aunt again.

"Scumbucket," Jenna again repeated louder.

"Who are you guys talking to?" Elena asked as she walked past.

"Him," Jenna replied obviously.

"Logan Fell," Brea elaborated with a scowl.

"The news guy?" Elena asked.

"Also known as Logan 'scum' Fell," Jenna confirmed.

"Hear, hear," scoffed Brea causing the other girls to smile. "I taught her the 'scum' Fell thing," Brea told Elena proudly with a smile.

"Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked Elena.

"Oh, no way! You and him?" Elena asked. "He's cute."

"He is not cute," both Jenna and Brea responded. "There's nothing cute about him," Jenna continued turning off the TV.

"Well, I mean, come on, Aunt Jenna. You must've found him cute at one time to go out with him," Brea said taking a seat.

"Shh, you."

"How did you know about him, Brea?" Elena asked.

"I was a very attentive 7-year-old, duh," Brea answered and Elena just raised her eyebrows. "Ok, fine, when Aunt Jenna found out he cheated on her I was the first one she saw, had to be a therapist sorta for that whole situation. Hated the guy ever since," Brea scowled.

"What are you doing with that?" Jenna asked Elena as she pulled out all the family heirlooms.

"We went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood, she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display."

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asked pulling out the ring to look at it before handing it to Brea.

"Originally it was great, great-grandma Mary's wedding ring."

"Yeesh that's old," Brenna shuddered. "Hey Jer," she greeted as he came in.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" he asked.

"You're not gonna find out," Elena said snatching the watch back out of Jeremy's hand.

"You could probably make more selling it to the council, you know the sentimental value and all," Brea responded and Elena responded by snatched the wedding ring that Jenna had handed her straight out of her hands while glaring.

"Not funny," Elena chastised.

"That stuff is mom and dads. You can't just give it away," Jeremy said annoyed.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." At that, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Brea said heading to the door, opening it and seeing Stefan. "Elena! It's for you," she yelled. "Hey," she then greeted Stefan cheerily before walking back to the kitchen. "Want to go to the grill Jer?" she asked.

"Yeah sure thing I guess," he mumbled.

"Give me a minute then we'll go?"

Brea pulled out her phone and called Matt.

"Hello," he answered.

"Heyyy Matty."

"Ok, what do you need?"

"Why do you think I need anything?"

"You called me Matty, Brea. You only do that when you need something."

"You free tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Brilliant, you're coming to the founder's party with me."

"Urgh, why me, take Chad?"

"I broke up with Chad, Matt. I can't."

"He'd go with you in a heartbeat.

"He's moved on, Matt. I've seen it."

"He hasn't Brea. How about Tyler?"

"Don't mention the 'T' word Matthew, and yeah he has, I got to go Matt. Thanks and grab a suit. See you tomorrow."

She then hung up before he could protest.

* * *

Brea and Jeremy were sitting at the bar of the Grill drinking a cola, "did you take the pocket watch yet?" Brea asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked quickly.

"Jer, that's meant to be your pocket watch, I saw the way you looked at it. It's only fair you get it."

He smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I took it," he said making Brea smile. As he said that Tyler and Vicki came near them and Jeremy started listening in on their conversation. "You do realise you had to ask him to ask you, right?" he said to Vicki as she came near. "You figure if you dress up like a respectable young lady, he'll finally treat you like one?'

"Screw you, Jeremy," Vicki glared.

"You know you're making the wrong choice, yet you make it anyway. It's sad."

Vicki walked off with a scoff.

"Well, that was awkward. Want to go?" Brea asked Jeremy nodded and they paid and went to leave. Tyler noticed Brea and started to make his way over to her, Brea glared daggers at him and Jeremy noticed, so he put his hand on her back and the siblings raced out before Tyler could come near them.

* * *

The next day Elena, Brea and Bonnie were in the dining area getting ready for the founder's party when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it," Brea said as she got up to answer it at the same time Jeremy reached the bottom of the stairs to also answer the door. "Race you!" she challenged Jeremy and they both lunged at the door to open it first. Jeremy pulled it open and their laughs and smiles faded as soon as they saw Tyler standing on the other side. Jeremy immediately went to close it but Tyler stopped him.

"I'm here for my mom. I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff."

"Right here," Elena said bringing the antiques to the door. "Please be careful."

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick," Jeremy sassed.

"Yeah, dick," Brea encouraged.

"Hey! Not now, ok, guys? Please?" Elena pleaded.

"I'm fine. He's just being a punk," Tyler defended.

"Oh go to hell Tyler," Brea snapped.

"I got your punk," Jeremy added.

"Good one," Brea whispered to her brother sarcastically.

"Look Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mom that I'll see her tonight," Elena suggested before walking off.

"Yeah, see ya dick," Jeremy smirked victoriously.

"Wait, Brea, can we talk?" Tyler asked before they could slam the door in his face.

"No!," she snapped and turned around and walked back to the dining room where Bonnie and Elena waited.

"Delicate flower vs naughty vixen?" Bonnie asked the girls opinion on nail polish.

"Tough call," Brea said.

"Can we mix them?" Elena asked.

"Look at you getting all pretty for your date," Bonnie cooed. "You seem happy-ish."

"I am… ish."

"There's always an ish with you," Brea sighed with an eye roll.

"Tonight's going to be a good night," Elena said ignoring her sister. "But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

"Yeah, subtlety isn't exactly your strong suit Bon," Brea agreed.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

"Bonnie out with it," Elena ordered.

"Spill the juice Bon," Brea agreed.

"I'm feeling ganged up on. This has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently, Stefan has a very interesting backstory. Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie asked, leaning forward, excited she had gossip to share.

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"What kind of girl goes out with two brothers, that's cold-hearted," Brea scoffed.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon and that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's," Elena frowned as she tried to defend her boyfriend.

"Yeah, it's very suss Bon. I think their issues are more deeply rooted than competing for a girl's affections," Brea agreed.

"I just wanted you to know," Bonnie said holding her hands up.

"Anyway his past relationships are none of my business," Elena smiled softly.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. Then it is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things."

"Sorry Bon, I agree with Lena. He just seems… good," Brea said trying to help diffuse the situation.

"How do you know?" Bonnie asked as Elena sat dumbfounded.

Eventually, the girls went upstairs doing their hair and makeup when the phone went off.

"Your turn," Brea said as Elena went to answer it. When Brea heard the name 'Mrs Lockwood' spoken she knew it was about the missing pocket watch. "Uh oh," she said as Bonnie gave her a look and Elena stormed through the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked as Brea chased Elena.

"Elena, wait," she called as she saw her smack the headphones off of Jeremy's head.

"Ahh! God, what now?" he asked exasperatedly.

"The pocket watch. Where is it?" she demanded angrily.

"What watch?" Jeremy asked.

"The one you stole from mom's box," she said as Jeremy looked at Brea accusingly.

"Hey, Mrs Lockwood, not me buddy."

"Look, Mrs Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it."

"Yeah, Tyler probably took it. That punk," Brea agreed but failed to convince Elena.

"Don't even play that card, Jeremy you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" she asked as Brea winced sucking in a breath.

"Screw you," he snapped getting up and pulling it out of its hiding place. "I would never sell this ok?"

"Then why did you take it?" she asked.

"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" he slapped the watch into Elena's hand pushing her shoulder on his way past.

"And he was going to give it to you," she said in realisation.

"Yeah."

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, ok? Mom promised Mrs Lockwood, what do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out."

"Sorry Jer," Brea whispered as he gave her a small smile before she left.

* * *

Elena and Brea stood in the bathroom about ready to leave when Elena looked over and saw the pocket watch. Brea followed her gaze and saw it then said, "I'm not going to tell you what to do Lena."

"But he should have it," she finished and Brea nodded.

Elena picked up the watch and opened the door to Jeremy's room placing it next to him before leaving. "Good choice Lena." The doorbell then rang. "That's probably Matt. See you at the party" she said. She got to the front door and opened it to see Matt.

"You owe me Gilbert," he smiled.

"I'll never forget it, Donovan," she said as they walked to his car.

* * *

After a while at the party, the two friends ran into Jenna.

"Jenna, lovely to see you again," Matt sweet-talked.

"You look positively miserable," Brea pointed out to her aunt.

"Scumfell's here," she whined. "He asked me out to lunch."

"No," Brea exclaimed.

"I'm lost," Matt said.

"Total douchebag," Brea explained.

"This is not my scene Brea, I hate this," Jenna moaned.

"You're holding up well Jenna," Matt assured.

"Just avoid the scumbucket and all will be fine," Brea's phone buzzed and she checked it.

E - Front couches ASAP.

"Hey I'll be back in a minute, Elena needs something," she said to Matt before leaving.

"I'm a doubt planter," she heard the end of Bonnie's sentence.

"What happened?" Brea asked.

"It's not your fault. I just… I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it and then that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty."

"Ohhh Katherine stuff," Brea said in realisation.

"Elena, Brea, honey there you two are. I noticed the watch still isn't in the collection," Mrs Lockwood asked as she approached the sisters.

"Oh, umm, I'm sorry Mrs Lockwood. I, umm, I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in my parent's stuff somewhere," Elena covered.

"I see," Mrs Lockwood said. "Well please let me know if either of you finds it," she said walking off.

"You're a terrible liar Lena," Brea said shaking her head. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"I'll come, Bonnie?" Elena asked and Bonnie shook her head and the girls left.

"Hey Care," Brea greeted as they entered the bathroom.

"Hey, so how are things with Stefan?" she asked Elena.

"Great. Just great."

"Bad liar remember," Brea whispered.

"Really?" Caroline asked in disbelief. "Well, my radar must be off, cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes."

"What is that?" Elena asked Caroline trying to lift her neck scarf.

"Don't," she snapped.

Elena then went again lifting it higher. "Oh my god Caroline, what happened?" Brea saw a massive bite mark on her neck and gasped.

"Nothing, ok?!"

"Caroline that is not nothing, what the hell!" Brea exclaimed in shock.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Elena asked.

"No, ok, nothing. It just… my mom would kill me."

Elena then pulled down her cardigan to see another large bite mark. "Did Damon hurt you?"

"No! Of, course not!"

Elena went to look further when Caroline snapped and yelled "just leave me alone you two!" and stormed out.

"Right, that's it. I'm going to kill him," Brea hissed storming out after her, on a mission to find Damon, Elena hot on her heels.

Elena and Brea found Damon and stormed up to him. Brea slapped him with rage straight away and then Elena pushed him as he looked confused.

"There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her," Elena snarled walking off in a huff.

"If I see you anywhere near her again, I will kill you, you got it? I will end you," Brea hissed before storming off to find Matt.

"Brea!" she heard someone call from behind her.

"Oh Chad, umm hi," she said looking away.

"You look amazing," he smiled.

"Thanks," the pair then went silent. "Have you seen Matt?" she asked.

"Yeah I saw him over with Tyler just before, want to go over there?" he asked.

"Tyler?" she asked and he nodded. "No way then," she laughed. "I'll try his cell," she called Matt but he didn't answer.

"Need a ride home since Matt's MIA?" Chad offered.

"Oh, thanks but…"

"It's fine Brea, I was just leaving, your house is on my way and I can't very well leave you stranded," he said with a crooked smile.

"OK then, thanks Chad," he then started leading her to the car. As the left they passed Jenna who was talking to Logan, Jenna raised an eyebrow at her and Chad and Brea raised an eyebrow at her and Logan. Jenna then whipped out her phone and Brenna heard hers make a noise and checked it.

J - Did we enter a universe where we both suddenly find Fell's attractive again?

Brea smiled reading this and continued walking. Eventually, they got in the car and she sent Matt a message letting him know she left.

"It's nice to spend time with you again Brea, I missed it," Chad said breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah me too, I've missed talking to you," she said cautiously.

"I mean we haven't really spoken since that night."

"Right," she said looking down.

"I'm sorry Brea. I didn't ever say that to you. I didn't know if you wanted to talk to me. But I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," she said as she got teary. The rest of the trip was silent until they reached the Gilbert home and Chad pulled over. "Thanks for the ride Chad."

"Yeah anytime, see you around I guess," Brea could see he was thinking something over and then he quickly lent forward and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, see you around Chad" she whispered before getting out of the car and heading inside to go to bed.


	9. You're Undead to Me

Brea had been taking some of the sleeping pills she had prescribed to her after the car accident the past few nights. They'd been given to her to suppress the constant nightmares following the crash. Eventually, she didn't have to use them anymore. But lately, her dreams had been scaring her. Dreaming of a different time period with familiar faces and strangely familiar voices. She'd taken the pills to help her get a night of proper dreamless sleep. Brea was deep in sleep when she felt someone roughly shaking her.

"Brenna!" Elena hissed.

"What?" she grumbled rolling over.

"God, you sleep heavy," Elena groaned. "Vicki is in the bathroom."

"What? No, she's not," Brea mumbled, trying to go back to sleep.

"Yeah, she is, in Jeremy's shirt."

"No way exciting," she slurred needing longer to wake up as Elena stormed off, irritated by her sister's lack of concern.

Brea came downstairs as Jenna told Elena she wouldn't be home for dinner.

"Why won't you be home for dinner?" Elena asked.

"I can't believe you're going to do it, Jenna," Brea tutted, already knowing Jenna's plans for the night. "You used to be my cool aunt. Now you're my pushover aunt. Not cool Aunt Jenna, not cool."

"No, I like being the cool aunt!" Jenna whined.

"Then ditch Logan," Brea countered.

"So you're actually going to do it? You're going to go out with Logan," Elena teased.

"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes," Jenna nodded.

"There's my cool aunt again!" Brea cheered holding out her fist for Jenna to bump.

"And have you heard from Stefan?" Jenna asked Elena, changing subjects.

"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago."

"Hey, uh, Elena, uh," Brea started mockingly putting on a deeper voice.

"I have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days," Elena continued and Jenna laughed.

"Haven't you called him?" she asked.

"Nope. Not going to, either."

"And why should she, he's the one who disappeared," Brea sighed.

"And you're ok with everything?" Jenna asked.

"No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning, and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy," Elena said proudly.

"Ok, then," Jenna said shocked at her outburst.

"I'll be fine," Elena confirmed.

"What about you, kid? You talk to Chad since he dropped you home?"

"Nope, gotta get to school, see ya, Jenna," Brea said running off.

* * *

Elena, Brea and Bonnie stood by the lockers chatting when they saw Caroline headed their way.

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened," Elena scoffed.

"Every time I've brought it up she just switches topics, she won't even talk to me about it," Brea said confused by her friend's weird behaviour after Elena found her lying in the grass, confused and crying the other night after Brea had left the party.

"She's in denial," Bonnie explained.

"Hey," Stefan said from behind the girls.

"Hey, uh, you know, we gotta go, uh, be somewhere right now," Bonnie said pulling her and Brea away from the pair so they could have alone time.

"Yeah, anywhere else," Brenna called back to the couple. "Smooth save there, Bon," she giggled as the girls walked away.

* * *

"Miss, miss, miss, miss," Brea chanted at Matt as they played pool at the Grill after school. He then missed the shot. "Haha, you suck Matt," Brea teased.

"Just have your shot Gilbert. Even with your distracting, I'll still wipe the floor with you," he teased as Brea lined up her shot. "So when are you going to talk to Tyler?" he asked just as she took her shot causing her to miss.

"Talk about distracting," she groaned.

"Wasn't trying to."

"Well Matt, never. Never planning on it."

"Hey guys umm, have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked coming up to ask them and Brea's eyes went wide at the fact she just asked her ex where her new boyfriend was.

"Nope," Matt replied quickly and Elena started to walk away. "But if you want to kill some time, you can rack. Help out your sister. Come on, we haven't played in forever. I'll let you break," Matt enticed.

"Fine, although sticking me on Brea's team isn't exactly selling it," Elena giggled.

"Oh, Matt guess what Elena saw this morning! Traumatising from what I hear," Brea exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! Jeremy and Vicki," Elena explained. "I got up this morning and there's Vicki all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird."

"Beyond weird," Brea agreed. Elena pulled out her phone to check the time.

"How late is he?" Matt asked.

"Hitting the hour mark," she said annoyed.

"He's being a dick Lena. After disappearing for like 4 days he doesn't even show up to explain. Douchebag. Maybe he and Tyler have been hanging out."

"Nothing's wrong though," Elena said so Matt didn't get any ideas. "Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you," she said as she noticed him leaning forward attentively.

"That's smart," Brea agreed.

"Good," Matt said sarcastically. "I mean it's not like we were ever best friends or anything."

"Ok," Elena said reluctantly. "Here it goes… what do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?" she asked.

"Why? What's he done?" Matt asked concerned.

"Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."

"Yep, we're busybodies, us Gilbert's love sticking our noses where they don't belong," Brenna chirped uncomfortable at the whole situation unfolding before her.

"Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" Matt laughed.

"Do not joke about clowns Matthew," Brea said sternly as he was well aware of her fear of clowns.

Elena laughed as well, "no, of course not. But what do we know about him, really?"

"He's great at football. A little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."

"So you think I'm just being paranoid?" Elena asked and Brea stayed quiet and looked away.

"I think you should talk to him," Matt suggested.

"Talk to who?" Stefan asked, from behind Matt and Brea as they turned to look at him. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"What happened?" Elena asked.

"I got held up."

"Not a good answer," Brea whispered to Matt.

"Is everything ok?" Elena asked.

"There was this thing with my uncle," he vaguely answered.

"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?" Elena scoffed.

"And she makes a good point," Brea again whispered to Matt, making Elena subtly step on her foot to shut her up.

"Ow," Brea moaned.

"Ok. You two have fun," Matt said quickly pulling himself and Brea out of the way as it got more awkward.

"But Matt, it was getting entertaining!" she whined.

"Let's just get a soda Brea and talk about Ty…"

"Oh, she stormed out, she stormed out! This is your chance Matt, swoop! Swoop!" she interrupted as she watched Elena leave.

"Brea stop! Let's just sit down and have a nice conversation with our good friend Tyler here," he laughed pulling her into the booth that both Tyler and Chad were sitting out.

"Oh, you evil evil evil Matthew!" she glared. "You tricked me. Well good day, Matthew, you don't deserve a Matt or Matty," she said before realising he had blocked her in as he sat in the way of her escape. "And you've made it difficult," she groaned before sighing as she climbed over the back of the seat and into the next booth that luckily no one was sitting in. "Ha I win," she mocked, leaning next to his ear, "now have a good evening Matthew, Chad nice to see you and uh bye to you too Satan," she said, farewelling each of the boys from behind Matt's head before she got up and left the grill.

* * *

"Stefan's cooking dinner for Elena to make up for something so don't go downstairs tonight ok, Brea?" Jeremy said sticking his head in Brea's door.

"Yeah sure, Vicki in there?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile.

"I want a movie watching buddy, Jer!"

"Well you're by yourself tonight Brea, catch you in the morning," he said before leaving the room. Brea didn't want to go to bed as it was only 8 pm, so she got her laptop out and opened Netflix and put on an episode of Gilmore Girls. Halfway through the episode Jeremy stormed into the room and sat down on her bed looking sad.

"Are you ok Jer?" she asked sitting up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Tell you what?" Brea asked concerned.

"You're taking those strong sleeping pills again. The ones that helped you sleep through the nightmares after the accident."

Brea's eyes went wide at being caught. "How'd you know?"

"Vicki found yours and Elena's pills. The lid wasn't on properly on yours and they've gone down from how they used to be."

"Are you and Vicki taking our pills Jeremy?" she said angrily.

"I didn't take any alright. Not now. Vicki had some of Elena's but I took yours away from her. Tell me what's going on Brea please."

"I'm having nightmares again."

"Of the accident?"

"No. Something else. I can't explain it. But, I don't know, it'll sound stupid... it's like a suppressed memory. But from a long long time ago, and it just feels so real, and it scares me. It's woken me up every night for weeks. Sometimes it's the same one. Sometimes it's just voices. And when I wake up Jer, my heart, it, it aches. Like something is missing. I can't explain it, Jer. These stop the dreams. I'm scared of them Jeremy," Brea said getting teary.

Jeremy sat in thought for a while and grabbed Brea's hand. "Please try not to take them. I remember how you act when you're on these. I know they help, but you're not the same. You turn into a shell of yourself, they suck out all your personality. Please don't Brenna. You don't need them ok."

"Well now you know how we all feel Jer, don't lecture me on taking these when you're taking every known drug under the sun," she said snatching the pill bottle out of his hands angrily. "I need these ok. I feel like I'm losing my mind with those dreams. You have no right to lecture me on drugs ok, so you can go now," Brea snapped as Jeremy's shoulders sagged and he left the room.

Brea opened the bottle to take one as she was ready for an early night but then thought about what Jeremy said and closed the bottle, not wanting to end up like her drug-dependent brother.

Brea went to bed, and had a drugless, dreamless sleep for what felt like the first time weeks.

* * *

"Ready for the carwash?" Brea asked bouncing into Elena's room.

"You're happy this morning," Elena said smiling at her sister.

"I feel good this morning I slept great, for what feels like the first time in forever and I am just ready for the day," she answered as Elena giggled.

Elena's eyes then widened as she looked at her sister. "Same bikini, dibs on not changing!" Elena yelled as Brea looked and realised they had the same purple and black bikini on.

"We have to go shopping together so this doesn't happen. I've said it before, and I'll say it again," she grumbled as she made her way back to her room to change.

* * *

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here," Caroline explained to Brea and Elena who had just arrived at the carwash.

"No, we are not," Elena sarcastically agreed.

"Hi," Stefan said from behind the girls.

"Hey!" Elena said excitedly.

"The event is called sexy suds, you know," Caroline piped up as Brea tried to sneak away. Caroline finished scolding the couple and stalked off after Brea. Caroline got close enough to her unsuspecting friend and grabbed her hair.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, CARE!" Brea protested.

"Top off. Now."

"Ok, ok. I'll take it off. I submit, let me go," Brea hurried as Caroline victoriously let go of her hair. "You are a mean, mean girl sometimes Caroline Forbes. I'm going to find Matt, he owes me an apology, and I want to get away from you," she said running away.

As she got close to Matt a bucket of water blew up in Tiki's face soaking her and Matt ran to help her.

"Wet and wild, Tik," he joked laughing.

"Karma dictates that water should've hit you for your disgraceful behaviour last night," Brea smirked.

"Oh, hey you, talked to Tyler yet?" he taunted.

"No, but in the more important news, Caroline Forbes, my darling best friend, just brutally attacked me!" she exclaimed putting her top back on.

"What do you mean attacked you?" Matt laughed.

"She grabbed my hair! She grabbed and pulled while she ordered me to take off my top because it's 'sexy suds'," Bonnie and Matt both laughed. "It's not funny it hurts! You shouldn't be laughing guys. Especially, you Matthew. You're in the bad books."

"Why's he in the bad books? I don't think he's been in the bad books for the entire 17 years you two have been friends," Bonnie asked.

"He tried to get me to talk to the brother bashing Tyler Lockwood, A.K.A, my old friend and a new nemesis."

"I swear you've called half the school cohort your nemesis at some point," Bonnie laughed.

"Ah come on Brea, not so old a friend, you'll come around, and he'll apologise, and everything in the Tyler-Brenna world will make sense again. But to show you I'm sorry for blindsiding you last night, I'll let you know Caroline's making a beeline straight for you," Matt whispered with a smirk and Brea saw her marching towards her and ran away.

"Jenna!" Brea yelled as she saw her and Logan talking.

"Hey, kiddo!" Logan greeted her.

"Oh, hey Logan."

"Brenna, I haven't seen you since you were this big," Logan said putting his hand at waist level to demonstrate how short she used to be, making her glare.

"Charming," she said sarcastically making Jenna elbow her. "Ow."

"Watch it," she hissed in Brea's ear.

"Well ladies, I'll be back in a minute. Got to check over the segment I just recorded."

"Got to check over the segment I just recorded," Brenna said in a high pitch mock voice.

"Hey! Come on Brea, he's trying. I'm giving him a go. Come on, you should give him a go too. He's very very cute." Brea glared at her aunt.

"Your car was done an hour ago," Elena said from behind the pair.

"You're saying that out loud why?" Jenna asked.

"Hi. Elena, right? I think I met you once when you were nine," Logan said coming out from behind the van.

"You did, at the exact same time you met me. Cut the sweet talk Fell," Brea whispered from behind Logan. "OW!" she exclaimed as Jenna pinched her arm.

"Nine, your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna quipped to Logan trying to move past her niece's attitude.

"Ouch, here I thought we were making process," Logan smiled. Brea went to open her mouth to retort but Jenna glared causing her to stay quiet.

"Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask him for a favour?" Elena asked causing Brea to raise an eyebrow in confusion at what her sister was after.

"If I do her a favour, will I get back in your good graces?" he asked Jenna.

"Uh, a very reluctant maybe to both."

"Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."

"How about done and you'll never ever come to our house, huh, Logan?" Brea suggested, Jenna pinched her again.

"Fine. But you're eating leftovers," Jenna said instead.

"Oh burn leftovers! But give him the pie Jenna! That was awful," Jenna's face dropped as Brea admitted her pie sucked. "Oh I mean it was great. You'll love it, Logan."

"You don't like my cooking?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't love it. I mean you're a better cook than me so you've got that going for you," Brea replied as Jenna smiled victoriously.

"Oh, come on, you're not a bad cook Brea," Elena encouraged.

"Oh come on Lena, I buy things from the Grill and stick it in bowls."

"Oh yeah, you're terrible at cooking, Brea, didn't you blow up the toaster, the microwave and the oven all in one week when you decided to go on your cooking frenzy?" Jenna asked laughed.

"Jenna! You swore you'd never let Elena find that out!" Brea gasped.

"What do you need?" Logan finally asked Elena, ending the niece and aunt's bickering.

"Do you have access to old news stories, say, the fifties?"

"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."

"I have this report way past due, it'd be a lifesaver," Elena explained as Brea raised an eyebrow in confusion, knowing no report was due.

"Heading there now. Let's go," Logan suggested walking off to the van.

"If anyone asks, you don't know where I went. I don't want Caroline to know that I left," she said to Jenna and Brea whilst grabbing her bag.

Brea leant down and whispered, "so umm what report is this? We don't have a report, what are you up to?" Elena stood up and gave her twin a look that said, 'I'll explain later' before walking off. "Aunt Jenna I'd just like to say that my report is not past due because I got it in when it was due. You know what that means?"

"That you're goody two shoes?"

"You have to say I am the better twin!"

"Fine, you're the better twin…"

"Yes!"

"When it comes to being arrogant," Jenna finished.

"Hey!" Brea yelled as Jenna walked off. Brenna looked around and didn't see Caroline anywhere. "Hmm, hey Jenna!" she said chasing after her aunt. "Want to give me a lift home? Caroline's gone so we can stage a jailbreak."

Jenna looked around, also a little scared of Caroline. "Ok, let's go, hurry, run! I don't want to get caught," she said ushering her niece towards the car.

* * *

Jenna and Brea were at home in the kitchen. "Ok, Logan went to find a bathroom, so now ground rules. You stay upstairs Brea alright? I enjoy your hatred of him, it's entertaining but we've filled that quota for today, got it? You lurking around the corner while we have dinner is freaking him out"

"Fine," Brea sighed leaving the living room. "I'll just hang out with my real friend, Jeremy!" she called back as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Oh hey, Elena," she said as Elena ran past her down the stairs. "I didn't mean it, you're my friend too!" she yelled after her, but Elena was already out the front door. Brea knocked on Jeremy's door loudly. "JER! Open up, buddy."

Jeremy yanked the door open, "geez, what are you on?"

Brea walked in, "I've been banished from downstairs, apparently I'm scaring Logan. Want to watch a movie?"

Jeremy smiled, "fine, I've had a crappy day anyway, a movie wouldn't be half bad."


	10. Lost Girls

"Hey umm Brea," Elena said sticking her head into Jeremy's room while they were halfway through Mission Impossible. Jeremy paused the movie and the siblings looked over at Elena. "Can I please talk to you? It's kind of important."

"Can it wait until after the movie Lena, we're halfway?"

"No, no. Please, Brea, please?"

"Oh umm yeah sure ok," she said sensing her twin's distress. "Uhh finish it tomorrow Jer?"

"Sure," he grumbled putting on headphones as Brea followed Elena to her room.

* * *

"So are we going to talk or are you going to keep pacing?" Brea asked Elena who had been walking up and down her room for the past 5 minutes.

"I can't tell anyone, but I have to tell you, it's you."

"Um ok, so are you going to tell me this secret or are we just going to mutter to yourself?"

"Stefan's a vampire," Elena blurted out.

"Excuse me!?" Brea snorted

"Damon too," Elena rambled making Brea jumped up and grab Elena's face and look into her eyes. "What are you doing Brea?" Elena asked trying to slap her sister's hands away.

"Did you hit your head, Lena?"

"No! Brea! I'm serious."

"Look I'll drive you to the hospital, come on," Brea said making her way to the bedroom door and Elena lunged at her arm.

"Please, Brea! Please! Look I made a copy of a video, the one that I found at Logan's work. It's from 1953. It's an old news video, of an animal attack on the boarding house. Joseph Salvatore! And Stefan's in the video. Tiki's grandfather recognised him the other day at the Grill and said he remembered Joseph's nephew called Stefan. It's him in the video Brea!" Elena then showed Brea the video.

"Well, I mean they are relatives it's possible they just look really similar."

"No Brea please listen to me," Elena pleaded, grabbing her sisters hand.

"An old video of a look-alike Stefan doesn't prove vampires exist sweetie."

"Don't patronise me, Brenna, I'm serious."

"Wow you called me Brenna," she said shocked. "Oh my god, you really believe this don't you." Elena nodded.

"I know it. Think about it. He and Damon, they're new to town the animal attacks started just as they got to town. His and Damon's names were on the original Mystic Falls Founders Party registry, he never gets old. Jeremy sliced Stefan's hand open when Tyler and he were fighting, I saw the blood, you did too, but the cut wasn't there, he never gets hurt. Sometimes his eyes go dark and the veins under his eyes, they pop out, he changes in ways that can't be explained. 5 bodies drained of blood Brenna, drained. Caroline, who was dating Damon, was bitten all over her neck, you saw it, Brea! I went to his house Brea, he told me that I'm right. Then he came here. He came here and tried to talk to me. He moved so fast Brea."

"Elena, you sound absolutely insane. But for some reason, I-I think I believe you." Elena breathed a sigh of relief. "We have to talk to him Lena and find out what it all means."

"Ok, tomorrow. We'll meet him, together."

That night Elena and Brea slept in the same bed, afraid of what would go bump in the night.

* * *

"You said you would explain everything, that's why I asked you to meet us here," Elena said to Stefan as the three of them sat awkwardly outside of the Grill.

"I'm just tagging along," Brea muttered.

"When you google 'vampire' a lot of stuff comes up," Elena continued. "You get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Stefan promised.

"I know you eat garlic," Elena said.

"And you go in the sun without sparkling," Brea added as a waitress came outside with Stefan and Elena's coffee and Brea's hot chocolate.

"We have rings that protect us, otherwise we burn, not sparkle," Stefan explained to Brea.

"So Twilight lied," Brea sighed. "How about amulets? Like on a necklace?" Brea asked and Stefan titled his head and then nodded hesitantly.

"Crucifixes?" Elena asked.

"Decorative."

"Holy water?" she asked again.

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't kill to survive."

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful."

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?" Elena accused angrily.

"Yeah, not cool Stefan, what if he killed her!" Brea agreed.

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me," Stefan tried to reason.

"He was hurting her!" Elena accused.

"He was feeding on her. He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."

"Is that supposed to make it ok?"

"No. No, none of this is ok, Elena. I know that."

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?"

"Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore," Stefan said shaking his head.

"Not anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was…"

"Infested," Brea finished.

Stefan gave her a funny look again, "very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that you two don't tell anyone."

"I can't promise that," Elena said as Brea slowly nodded to Stefan as she knew vampires being an open secret would have disastrous consequences.

"Elena… give me today. I will answer any questions that you two have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you want to do with what you know. It'll be your choice."

* * *

Elena was driving the car whilst Stefan was directing. Brea was sat in the back seat and an eery feeling was growing in her stomach.

"Stop here," Stefan said and everyone got out.

"What are we doing?" Elena asked.

"I want to show you something."

"In the middle of nowhere?" Elena asked as Brea started walking forward entranced.

"This didn't use to be nowhere. It used to be my home."

Brea had reached the two pillars at the front of the property and reached her hand out to touch them. "I've been here before," she whispered.

Elena heard and responded, "Brea, we've never been here."

"Oh, maybe I came here exploring with Tyler and Matt or something," Brea replied uncertainly.

"Maybe," Elena suggested before turning to Stefan "it looks so…" she said struggling to find an appropriate word.

"Old?" Stefan bluntly finished. "That's because they are."

"Wait. How long have you…" Elena said again, unable to find an appropriate way to finish her question.

"I've been 17 years old since 1864."

"Oh, my god," Elena said in shock as she realised she had been dating a guy older than her grandfather.

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back. A half-century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home." Brea walked further into the property area ahead of Stefan and Elena. "Damon and I… we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best of friends." Stefan then went on to describe his relationship with Damon to Elena.

"You knew Katherine in 1864?" Elena asked eventually.

"Her and her sister," Stefan said watching Brea.

"Her sister?" Brea asked snapping out of her trance.

"Yeah, well I don't think it was possible for them to really be sisters. She was human and Katherine was a vampire, an old one at that. But Katherine wasn't feeding on her or using her in any way. They just both genuinely loved each other as siblings." Brea's breath quickened and she went back to walking around the destroyed property.

Brea heard Elena and Stefan talking about how Katherine went with Stefan to the Founders Day instead of Damon. "Damon, who did Damon go to the ball with?" she asked turning around.

"He went with um, Katherine's sister to the ball." Brea nodded and walked off in a daze.

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

_"_ _Oh do stop staring Mr Salvatore," Brenna said to Damon as they danced._

_"_ _Why would she choose Stefan, though Miss Pierce? Am I not enough?" Damon asked as he stared longingly after Katherine._

_Brenna sighed, unsure of how to answer the question, knowing full well that her sister was toying with them. "My sister can be cruel in her ways, Mr Salvatore. I do not believe she has dismissed you. I believe, Damon, that she wants you to fight for her, to show her how you are perhaps a better choice for her than Stefan."_

_Damon smiled at his friend. "Perhaps you are right Miss Pierce, maybe I need to show her my affections outweigh my brothers."_

_"_ _Well to start Mr Salvatore, pay her no mind for the rest of the founder's ball. You are, after all, escorting me. I would hate to be talking about my lovely sister all night."_

_"_ _As you wish Miss Pierce," he said spinning her._

"Brea?" Elena asked shaking her sister.

"Huh?"

"You were completely out of it, we're leaving. We got Damon's ring," Elena said holding it up.

"What we can't give it back to him! He'll just hurt more and more people," Brea protested.

"We have to Brea, he'll hurt us in retaliation if we don't." Brea took a deep breath and nodded before making her way to the car. "The mind control, you said Katherine used. Did you ever do that to me?" Elena asked Stefan before she got in the car. Brea stopped and looked back at the pair, fascinated at what the answer would be.

"No. That necklace, it contains a herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. And Brea I slipped some into your perfume bottle when I was over there. But I would like to give you something like Elena's, I thought it might make you uncomfortable for me to give you jewellery when I just started dating your sister," Brea nodded in agreement.

"Yeah that definitely would've been weird," Brea agreed.

"I wanted to protect you both from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to… protect you from me. Elena, you should never take that necklace off… because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me… you'll know that you were free to make your own choice." Stefan then walked around to the driver's side of the car and Brea gave her sister a small smile before getting in the backseat.

* * *

Brea, Elena and Stefan arrived at the Gilbert house and walked through the door. Brea heard Matt's voice and excitedly yelled "Matthew!" and ran into the living room before reading the mood, and upon entering, seeingsawJeremy on the floor and Vicki standing over him and asked, "um, what the hell is going on here?"

Elena then got into the room and repeated the same question, "what's going on?"

"She's really messed up guys," Matt filled them in.

"Elena, back up," Stefan said pulling Elena away from Vicki's side to get a better look at her. Stefan grabbed her face and whispered calming words to her. "Guys, take her up to bed, she's gonna be ok," he told Jeremy and Matt.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asked.

"Is she ok?" Brea asked, looking in the direction the two boys took Vicki.

"Yeah," Stefan confirmed.

"What is it?" Elena pushed.

"She's transitioning."

"Transitioning into what?" Elena prodded still confused.

"Oh no, it's withdrawals, isn't it? I don't want her in my house if she's going to start throwing up, I just can't do that, it's just too gross," Brea panicked.

"No, it's not that, she's transitioning into a vampire."

"What?" Brea squeaked.

"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"H-how does she do that?" Elena stuttered.

"She has to feed on human blood," Brea answered quietly.

"And what if she doesn't?"

"She'll die. She may only have a few hours," Stefan answered

"Jeremy and Matt!" Brea realised.

"She's up there with him right now," Elena said concerned

"It's ok. She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."

"So when is she going to know?" Elena asked pacing the kitchen.

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice."

"The same choice you made?" Elena accused.

"Urgh, not the time Lena," Brea groaned. "Can we please think about the three people upstairs right now please," Brea said desperately as she left the room and went upstairs to find Matt. "Hey, how is she?"

"I don't know Brea, I've never seen her like this. I don't know what she took. She's in there with Jeremy and I don't know what to do Brea. She's so agitated I don't know if I should just take her home, or let her stay here or even take her to the hospital."

"I wouldn't go to the hospital," Brea said. "Lot of blood there."

"I've never known you to be afraid of blood," Matt smirked. "Your dad was a doctor and if memory serves me right you'd fall out of the tree about twice a day when you'd climb with Tyler and me. You're not afraid of a little blood."

"It's not me Matt. I'm thinking of Vicki. She might not like blood," Brea suggested with a smile. Brea and Matt then started walking down the stairs and when they reached the bottom, they heard someone storming down the stairs and turned to see Vicki running down the stairs, and she proceeded to push past the pair and run out the front door.

"Vick!" Matt called as she sprinted out the front door. "I'm gonna go look for her call me if you hear anything!" he said running to his truck.

"I can track her," Stefan informed the girls.

"Go," Elena encouraged.

"I'm going with Matt, I'll call you if we find her," Brea said running to Matts truck. "Matt! Wait up, I'm coming with you."

"Ok, get in. God what the hell Vick!" he said to himself. The pair then drove around the town for hours calling Vicki's name but to no avail.

* * *

Brea opened the door to her house and stepped in. Elena and Jeremy ran to the doorway with Jeremy yelling Vicki. When they saw it was just Brea their shoulders fell and they both sighed "oh" disappointedly.

"Wow, guys. That was a lovely greeting," Brea scoffed.

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy suggested.

"Hey, dude! I just came from Matt. Am I invisible?" Brea said waving her arms around and Jeremy just looked at Brea, waiting for an answer.

"Well we couldn't find her, he dropped me home because it was late but he's going to keep looking."

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?"

"We wait. We're supposed to wait," Elena answered.

"Yeah Jer, she might come back here and I'm guessing she's going to want to see you. Not Elena or me. So we should just stay put for now," Brea said smiling softly.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," he said upset and Brea squeezed her arm in comfort.

"She'll be fine, it'll all be fine," Elena lied.

"How about we finish our movie to take our mind off it Jer?" Brea suggested and he nodded slowly as the doorbell rung. All three of them then rushed to the door. Elena opened it a fraction before trying to slam it shut. "Lena?" Brea asked concerned only to see the door being pushed open and Damon on the other side of it. Brea gasped and stuck a hand out in front of her brother.

"Jeremy, go upstairs," Elena ordered. Jeremy just glared.

"Go Jer, get the movie started, I'll be up in a minute," Brea encouraged and Jeremy just rolled his eyes before slowly making his way upstairs.

"You two are afraid of me," Damon noticed. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from us," Elena forced out through her fear.

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh, wait of course I can. I've been invited," he taunted walking into the house as the twins stepped back two steps for every step he took forward, he then shut the door behind him.

"Oh, would you just bugger off Damon! Now is not the time," Damon's eyes softened when Brea growled this at him before hardening again.

"We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill either of you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda," he said as if he was doing them a favouor.

"Did killing Vicki serve the greater agenda?" Brea hissed.

"Oh brave one, are we," he smirked. "So…" he continued, "Where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," Elena said with malice.

"Don't look at me with those judgy little eyes. Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena asked, hands on hips.

"Mmm. Got the whole life story, huh?"

"We got enough," Brea answered.

"Oh, I doubt that. Tell my brother I'm looking for him," Damon said leaving the house. Just as the door was about to close he pushed it back open. "Oh, a tip for later. Be careful who you invite in the house."

"Get out," Brea growled. Damon smiled and finally left. Brea and Elena were left stunned for a minute before Brea finally went upstairs to Jeremy's room without speaking to Elena as they were both too shaken up. "Ready for the movie?" she asked as she plopped down onto his bed.

"Yeah I guess," he said disheartened.

"Press play baby brother."

The siblings then continued to watch the end of their Mission Impossible movie as Elena texted her to say that she was going to wait outside for Stefan to show up with any news. After a while, Brea heard the front door close. "I'll be back in a minute Jer," he just nodded, not really caring. Brea ran to the top of the staircase to see Elena sliding down the door in tears. "Lena? Are you ok? Did he find Vicki?" Elena couldn't talk she was crying so much. Brea just ran down the stairs and sat next to her sister pulling her head into her shoulder and holding her as she cried. She was able to work out that Elena must've broken things off with Stefan. After a while, Jeremy got to the top of the staircase and seeing one sister crying mouthed "Vicki?" to Brea and Brea shook her head, letting their brother know that their sister's despair was over a different matter and he nodded and went back to his room.


	11. Haunted

"Up! Up now mopey," Brea said flinging Elena's bedroom door open.

"Urgh go away," she groaned

"Not a chance, oh how the tables have turned," Brea sang as she jumped onto Elena's bed. "It's usually you nagging me to get up. Anyway, you've got to get to school Lena."

"You smell Brea," Elena said sniffing the air.

"Well aren't you a sweetheart," Brea scoffed. "After our talk with Stefan yesterday I think I put about half a bottle of my perfume on today. I really need a piece of jewellery like yours. Hey, do you think Stefan will be at school today?"

"Probably not. I think he'll be with Vicki. Why?"

"Well, he did promise me something more effective than vervain-laced perfume." Elena then pulled herself out of bed and Brea left the room and walked over to Jeremy's room. "BOO!" she yelled throwing open the door causing Jer to look at her weirdly.

"Never been scary Brea," he said with an eye roll.

"You going to join the search party?" Brea asked.

"Huh," he scoffed. "At least one of you understand. Elena thinks I should go to school."

"Yeah well Elena's an idiot," Brea smiled. "I also don't appreciate the 'one of you' statement, I know we're twins but please don't lump me in with her."

"You're hyper," he said looking her up and down.

"Yeah well, I slept well, drug-free and no nightmares," Brea smiled.

"I'm glad," he smiled. 

"I'm glad you're going out to look for Vicki. I mean I think schools good and all but your mind wouldn't be there so it's a bit of a waste of time right now," Brea said stepping out of the room. "Give me a call if you find out anything," she called back, knowing full well that he wouldn't find Vicki anywhere.

* * *

Elena and Brea pulled up to the Salvatore Boarding House before they went to school.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lena?" Brea asked nervously. "I'm sure Stefan's got a handle on Vicki."

"I just need to see, ok. For Jeremy and Matts sake. I need to know if she's safe," Elena sighed as she got out and the two girls made their way to the front door. Elena rang the bell only to have Damon answer it. Brea groaned as soon as she saw Damon standing at the door smirking. "Is Stefan here?" Elena asked.

"Yep," Damon popped.

"Where is he?" Elena demanded.

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'."

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon retorted.

"If you wanted us dead, we'd be dead," Elena sneered, making Brea raise her eyebrows at having being brought into the argument.

"Yes, YOU would," Damon emphasised.

"But we're not."

"Yet," this last remark from Damon silenced Elena momentarily.

"Alrighty then," Brea muttering, her eyes flickering between the two of them. She took a step forward and walked around Damon, entering the house.

Elena eventually came and stood next to Brea in the hallway. "Stefan? Stefan?" she called looking around.

"Yes," Stefan answered from the stairs.

"Where's Vicki?" Brea asked.

"She's upstairs."

"What happens now?" Elena asked. "Because our brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do we tell him?"

Brea turned her head to look behind her at Damon who was staring after her, as soon as she caught his eye, he immediately turned and left the house.

"I'm working with her," Stefan assured. "But it's going to take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this"

"That's got to be one of the best non-answers I've ever heard, Stefan," Brea sighed, as she turned back to look at him.

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Elena questioned. "What are we supposed to do? We are lying to everyone we care about. What's going to happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe."

"How long is that?" Vicki asked from the top of the stairs.

"We can talk about that later."

"Hey Vicki," Brea said giving the girl a small wave.

"How are you?" Elena continued.

"How am I? You're kidding, right?" she asked rudely.

* * *

"Coffee is our friend," Stefan explained to Vicki as the four of them sat at the table awkwardly. "It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch."

"Coffee's gross," Brea muttered.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at a time."

"Oh, god, don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. The school counsellor has been down that road and it doesn't work for me."

"You have to try Vicki. You were only human yesterday, how can you already be thinking about hurting people?" Brea growled, but when she noticed everyone staring at her in shock she quietly muttered "sorry."

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki," Stefan encouraged

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked smugly. Brea sensed Elena stiffen up beside her.

"Not in a long time."

"How long?" Vicki prodded.

"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behaviour"

Vicki sighed, "does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead," Vicki ranted before skipping out of the room.

"I'm gonna uh- I'm gonna get her some more," Stefan stuttered, referencing blood, "all right. I'll be quick."

"Is this absolutely insane or what?" Brea asked after Stefan left. "Two days ago we were completely oblivious to all of this. It's just… insane," all Elena could do was nod in agreement.

Vicki walked back in, "false alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird."

"Who are you calling?" Elena asked as she saw Vicki dialling on her phone.

"Jeremy."

"Wow, no Vicki, no," Brea said quickly.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore," Elena lectured.

"Oh, come on. Don't you two start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."

"No you're not and you're certainly not seeing Jeremy Vicki, that's final," Brea snapped angrily.

"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena tried to reason.

"I would never hurt Jeremy."

"I know you think that, but we can't take that risk," Elena said walking forward to Vicki. "You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."

"Oh, really? And how long have you been preparing a 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm presuming it predates the whole vampire thing."

"No, Vicki, it didn't," Brea said from behind Elena trying to calm her down.

"All we're saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this, I mean it, Vicki," Elena ordered.

"Or what?" Vicki challenged before lunging at Elena, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.

"What the hell Vicki! Get off her," Brea yelled, trying to shove Vicki off of her sister, only to have Vicki grab her by the neck as well and slam her right up next to Elena on the wall, lifting them up so that their feet barely touched the ground.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitches. You had my brother whipped for 15 years, 15 years, and then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know" Vicki spat in Elena's face as Brea frantically tried to slap Vicki's away from her neck. "And you, you think you're so special huh," Vicki snarled at Brenna. "Tyler was always so interested in you and whatever the hell you were doing every moment of the day, whenever you would walk over to us he'd throw me in the gutter like trash just to talk to you. And now you think you can keep me from Jeremy? I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little heads off. You got it?"

"I'm… sure… Jeremy… would love… that," Brea gasped as Vicki dropped them to the ground and left the room as they gasped for breath. "What a bitch!" Brea yelled as soon as she could breathe. "Come on, outside Lena, she can't go out in the daylight," she groaned pulling her sister up off the ground.

* * *

"She threatened us," Elena informed Stefan when he found them outside.

"She's on edge, imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and then when you throw in her other issues."

"Don't try to justify it!" Brea yelled rubbing her neck.

"How long until it settles?" Elena asked calmer. "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book."

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while, but I didn't have anyone helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire, it can all blur into one urge - hunger."

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"Jeremy, she could hurt Jeremy," Brea stuttered.

"Jeremy can't see her," Stefan backed up. "Not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him."

"Or worse," Elena said distraught.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt."

"We need to get going," Elena said turning to leave.

"Elena-"

"Please Stefan, there's only so much I can take."

"Wait, Brea," Stefan called as Elena stormed off. "I can ahh, smell your perfume, it's pretty heavy today."

"Oh yeah, I used, a lot," Brea chuckled nervously.

"Bit of an understatement," Stefan smiled. "Here, this is a ring, it's laced with vervain. It belonged to Katherine's sister, I covered it in vervain like she used to, it'll wear off eventually, but once every couple of weeks, before it's fully gone, I'll redo it, so you'll always be protected. Here," he said opening a ring case to show her. It was a gold ring with a clear, rectangle, purple sapphire in the middle and two small diamonds on the side.

Brea was transfixed by the ring, her hands reached out and removed it from the box and slid it on to her right ring finger, instantly feeling a connection to it. "I love it. Thank you, Stefan. It's beautiful."

He smiled, "here," he took her hand and placed his palm on top of her ring and hissed. Brea frowned and looked at him. He released her hand and raised his palm to show her the red burn mark slowly healing.

"What the hell?" Brea asked confused.

"The vervain covers the ring, it's sort of like a plating, so you can cause pain to any vampire by touching them with it. It's not enough to cripple them, but it will shock them."

"Wow thank you, Stefan. I better go, Elena's waiting," Stefan nodded and Brea leant forward hugging Stefan before running to the car.

* * *

"You gotta call me Vick. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just- just call me please," Jeremy said leaving about the 50th voicemail as Brea got two glasses out for Jeremy to pour them both some lemonade.

"Hey, so, umm, do you wanna hang out tonight?" Elena asked from behind the two as Jeremy rolled his eyes. "We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun."

"Cool. Sure. Sounds, uh- sounds fun. Can't wait," he agreed unenthusiastically.

"I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt. But you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go," as Elena said this Brea winced knowing that wasn't going to be appreciated.

"What does that even mean, 'let her go'? Oh, ok, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?" Jeremy said as he glared at her.

"I know you may not see it, but trust me, Jer. It's for the best."

"Where's Jenna?" Brea threw in trying to change topics but they just kept arguing.

"Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden I get these moments, and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single one of them. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for best," he snapped before storming upstairs.

"Well that went well," Brea scoffed and Elena sighed. "He doesn't understand Lena. He doesn't know what's really going on. So if we say stay away he doesn't know it's for his safety. He thinks it's because we just don't like the girl." Elena just nodded and left the room, heading upstairs to get ready.

Brea's phone buzzed with a text from Caroline.

C - Tyler is asking fre you

C - Fro uoy

C - For you

Brea replied

B - Have you been drinking Care?

C - Lockwood special Bera, you know you loveee it

B - Haha ok Care. Elena and I are heading over there soon. I'll find you when I get there. But not Ty. Ok?

Brea then pocketed her phone and went to grab last years Halloween costume.

"Come on Brea we're heading out now!" Elena yelled up the stairs.

Brea ran down and noticed Elena was wearing last years outfit. "Oh, nurse again I see. And you are…" Brea said turning to Jeremy "yourself? Truly terrifying Jer, you're going to give me nightmares."

"You went the same as last year as well," Elena noticed. "Wonder Woman."

"It's fun you get to use a headband!" Brea laughed and the three left for the party.

* * *

The siblings arrived at the high school and went to enter when Jeremy screamed at some little kids causing them to yell in fear. Brea stuck her hand out for a hi-five whilst Elena slapped his arm in disapproval.

"Hey I'm gonna go find Care," Brea said. "She's drinking so she'll be out here. Text me if you need me." Elena nodded and Brea walked off.

"Wonder Woman huh?" she heard from behind her and turned to see Chad dressed as Superman.

"You went as last year's costume as well?" Brea laughed, pointing to his Superman costume.

"Yeah, you can tell we both put in a lot of effort tonight," he said making Brea laugh. The two then fell into an awkward silence.

"Umm have you seen Caroline anywhere?" Brea asked. "She's been sending me drunk texts I just want to make sure she's a-okay," Brenna said putting her thumbs up.

"Yeah, I think I saw her talking with Tyler and Bonnie earlier."

"Oh," Brea said, smile falling.

"You know he wouldn't shut up about you at practice the other day… is there - is - is there something going on there?" he asked hesitantly.

"WHAT! Between Tyler and I?" Chad nodded shyly. "No way. Ugh, Chad that's so gross. You've seen us together. How is that even a question?"

"I mean you guys were always so close," he defended, holding his arm out, gesturing to start walking. "I was always kinda jealous."

"Of Tyler? That's ridiculous," Brea said laughing. "He's like another brother to me, well when he's not being a royal ass."

"I know, I just felt I needed to ask," Chad said relaxing. "Is that Caroline?" he asked pointing to a girl tripping over.

"Yep. I'm gonna go see if she's ok, I'll catch up with you later," she said walking off.

"BREA!" Caroline yelled running over to Brea. "I've been having a lot of fun here."

"Lockwood special?" Tyler spoke from behind Brea.

"ME! ME!" Caroline yelled snatching the cup, nearly falling on Brea in the process.

"Care, easy, I think you've had enough," Brea laughed, ignoring Tyler and trying to take the cup from Caroline but Caroline just stuck her arm out of stop her and chugged the drink. Tyler grabbed Brea's arm and pulled her away from Caroline and to the side of the party.

"Look you're killing me here Brea. Please, can we talk it's been weeks. Please," Tyler asked desperately and as Brea went to reply, her phone buzzed with a text from Elena.

E - Vicki's here! I lost Jer

"Wow my sister is a terrible babysitter," Brea muttered before starting to walk away.

"Brea!" Tyler called out.

"Look we'll talk, ok, but I have to go find Jeremy now, but we will Ty," she said as she ran off and into the school halls. As Brea ran through a sheet hanging in the hallway she ran straight into Elena and fell over from the impact.

"What are you doing Brea, this is serious, get up," Elena ordered.

"Seriously?" Brea scoffed as Elena nodded. "You knocked me over. You're a bully when you're worried you know."

"Thank god!" Elena breathed as Stefan rounded the corner with a grip on Vicki's arm. "I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried."

"Are you ok?" Stefan asked Brea seeing her sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, Elena pushed me."

"I did not!" Elena countered.

"What's going on?" Matt asked spotting Vicki and pulling Brea up off the ground without bothering to ask why she was down there.

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine," Stefan tried to cover.

"I told you to quit bothering me," Vicki complained pulling away from Stefan.

"No. Vicki, don't do this," Elena tried to reason.

"So has anyone seen Caroline tonight? It's hilarious she is so wasted, a few too many Lockwood specials. Boy, do those drinks pack a punch am I right?" Brea stammered trying to diffuse the tension.

"Matt, he won't leave me alone," Vicki continued complaining.

"You need to back off, man," Matt said stepping in front of his sister.

"Matt, it's- it's ok," Elena tried to reassure.

"No, it's not ok. What the hell is your problem?" Matt yelled at Stefan.

"Stefan, she's gone!" Elena noticed before she took off running.

"Oh bugger!" Brea gasped.

"Bugger?" Stefan questioned before refocussing and began to run off after Elena. Matt tried to grab Stefan to stop him 'harassing' his sister but Stefan threw him up against the wall. "I'm trying to help her," he yelled before running off.

"Walk it off Matty," Brea comforted, patting him on the shoulder. "He's just very big on community service and he takes getting Vicki on the right track very seriously," Brea tried to cover for Stefan's strange behaviour but Matt gave her a disbelieving look. "Geez Matt lighten up it's a party," Brea teased before running off to look for Jeremy.

As Brea was running around outside looking for her brother she heard him yell "Vicki! Vicki, what the hell!"

"JEREMY!" she screamed, recognising her brother's voice and started running towards where she heard it near the buses. Brea arrived at the buses to see Jeremy yelling and Vicki lunging at him. As Vicki grabbed Jeremy, Brea threw herself at Vicki and managed to tackle her off Jeremy before quickly standing back up and reaching out to grab her brother to run, but Vicki got up quickly and threw Brea into the bus next to them, splitting her head open on the side mirror before she leant down, about to bite Brea's throat.

"Vicki, no!" Elena screamed hitting Vicki with a wooden board before she could bite Brea. Vicki, hardly affected, picked up both Brea and Elena, and threw them into wooden crates, cutting the girls sides as the wood scratched them. Before Vicki could hurt them further Stefan slammed her into the bus, but she managed to wiggle free of his grasp and hide.

"Go. Get inside," Stefan called to them urgently making Elena grab Brea's hand, dragging her up from the ground and grab Jeremy on the way past as they started running for the door. As they were running Jeremy took the weight of an injured Brea, allowing Elena to try to open the door. Just as she opened it Brea and Jeremy were flung backwards as Vicki grabbed Elena biting into her throat.

"Elena!" Brea screamed. Before Vicki could do too much damage, she gasped as Stefan stuck a piece of wood through her chest, causing her to let go of Elena.

"Vicki!" Jeremy started screaming in despair as he got up and tried to reach for her only to be held back by Stefan as everyone watched Vicki's body turn grey and veiny.

"Get him out of here," Elena asked Stefan not wanting Jeremy to have to keep seeing Vicki's body.

"Brea?" Stefan asked the half-conscious girl who was pulling herself up to sit against the wall but she just shook her head. Stefan nodded at her gently before leading Jeremy away.

Elena started crying and sat down beside Vicki's body. "What are we going tell Jer? How do we explain this?" As Elena looked down she noticed Brea's ring glowing bright, "Brea, you're-you're ring!" she exclaimed but before they had time to question it, Damon came out from behind the buses.

"You should go," he told Elena. "I got this."

"You did this," Elena said angrily. "This is your fault."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." At this Elena tried to shove him, but he didn't even move, so she tried slapping him, but he caught her hand. "None of this matters to me. None of it."

"That is so rude," Brea groaned from the ground.

"People die around you. How can that not matter? It matters and you know it," Elena cried before slapping him.

"Oh! Good shot Lena," Brea croaked in pain.

Damon's face hardened. "You both need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave. She probably has a concussion," he said in a kinder tone. "Please get her home." Elena then got very worried that he'd do something dangerous so she crept over to Brea keeping her eyes on Damon and helped her off the ground pulling her away.

"I have to go find Tyler," Brea whispered limping away from Elena, who was in too much shock to stop her. She was walking for a bit when she saw Tyler.

"Brea hey!" he called when he saw her walking over to her. "Woah, what happened?" he said noticing the blood and grabbed her looking her over.

"Nothing, uh, it's fake," she lied.

"No, it's not you liar. You were always a terrible liar. And I can see the cut on your head, Brea, I can see it bleeding!" he exclaimed as he pulled her head closer to look at it.

"How much have you had to drink?" she asked shakily,

"Nothing, I've just been making them. Why?"

"Can you drive me home?" she whispered, lip quivering.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, let's go," he said helping her towards the car park.

'BREA!" a voice yelled behind the pair and Chad ran up to them "I've been looking for you everywhere, where have you been?" he asked before his eyes widened and he grabbed her shoulders. "What the hell happened? You're bleeding!" he then turned her head to the side to inspect her cut.

"I uh, I tripped," Brea lazily lied.

"Makes sense," Chad admitted.

"Tyler's gonna drive me home, I'll see you later," Brea dismissed walking around her ex-boyfriend waiting for Tyler to catch up. As the pair got into Tyler's car, Brea burst into hysterical tears. "Why do people have to die Ty? Even when they didn't deserve it," Brea whimpered.

"Oh my god, Brea," he said in concern grabbing her head gently and pulling it onto his shoulder so she could cry. "You were so strong for Jeremy and Elena after the accident. I've never actually seen you cry," Tyler tried to reason.

"Yeah, that's it," Brea tried to pull herself together and managed to stop the tears. Tyler wasn't an overly affectionate guy and she had no doubt he would have been very uncomfortable with her current state. The drive to Brea's house was dead silent, with Tyler not wanting to ask about their fight as he feared upsetting her more. As he pulled up in front of the house Brea noticed Elena and Stefan out the front. "I forgive you, Ty, I missed you, I'll see you tomorrow," she said quickly as she got out of the car and speed-walked up to the porch. "Jer inside?" she asked the pair and Stefan nodded and she stormed inside running to Jeremy's room. Without saying anything Brea sat next to Jeremy on his bed and just held on to his arm resting her bleeding head on his shoulder, trying to make him feel less alone. Not long after, Elena also came up the stairs and sat in front of him.

"Do you understand what happened?" Elena asked him.

"No," he whispered. "I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but… I don't understand."

"She was going to kill us."

"Now she's dead. Vicki's dead," he despaired.

"I'm so sorry, Jer," Elena cried.

"Make it stop. It hurts." With these words, Brea lifted her head and looked at Elena in despair at her brother's pain as Elena tried to comfort him. "Why does everybody have to die on me?" Brea started breathing heavier and Elena pulled him and Brea into a hug. After a while of hugging, Elena went downstairs to see Stefan and Brea went to her room too numb to think straight.

* * *

After a while of hugging her teddy bear on her bed, there was a knock. Brea got up and opened her door to see it was Damon standing there. "What?" Brea croaked.

"Your sister asked me to come here."

"My sister told you to come to find me?"

"She wanted your permission… for me to compel Jeremy to forget tonight and let Vicki go. To take his pain away."

"Compel him?" Damon nodded. Brea walked out of her room and looked through Jeremy's door to see him shaking in despair. "Please Damon, please," she agreed before retreating back into her room. After a few more minutes there was another knock, and behind the door was Damon again. "Is it done?" she asked and Damon nodded.

"Here," he said holding his hands out, "bandages for your head and your side. They don't look like they're bleeding anymore, so they should be fine just with these," he said handing them to Brea who hesitantly took them. "Do you want me to compel you as well?" he asked as his eyes looked sympathetic to her pain.

"No," Brea said shaking her head. "I need to remember. I can't forget. I can't lose my memories." Damon nodded brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, offered her a small smile.

"You'll be ok," he smiled and left as Brea closed the door behind him.


	12. 162 Candles

Brea's door burst open "up, come on!" Jeremy said from his sister's doorway.

"Jer?" she mumbled, "what the hell?"

"We have to go down to the station remember? To give statements. Elena told me to wake you up."

Brea looked at her alarm clock, "we don't have to be there for an hour and a half!"

"I'm not messing with Elena today. She's in one of those 'I'm going to destroy everything in my path' moods," Jeremy said with a shrug.

"Talking about Elena?" Jenna asked as she walked past Brea's room.

"Yep," Brea answered, "want to mess with her?" Brea asked excitedly.

"Do I ever! Jenna, don't tell," Jeremy warned.

"Oh, no way. I am so in," Jenna said, just excited to be included.

* * *

"Elena what are you doing!" Brea yelled as she came downstairs 10 minutes later all dressed and ready for the day.

"What did I do?" she asked between mouthfuls of cereal.

"We have to be at the police station in 15 minutes, Jeremy came to tell me you were still in your pyjamas eating!"

"Brea we don't have to be there for like over an hour."

"Wrong, Elena," Brea turned to look at the clock. "Yeah that clock has stopped Elena, you're seriously late." At the prospect of being late Elena's eyes flung open and she looked at Jenna.

Jenna turned to look at the clock and took a second to fake realisation before yelling "shoot," causing Elena to subsequently bolt upstairs to get changed.

"BRENNA!" Elena roared when she reached her room and saw her alarm clock was the same time as the downstairs clock and realised she had been tricked. At this Jeremy, Brea and Jenna started laughing hysterically.

* * *

Brea's interrogation with Sheriff Forbes was no doubt awkward. Caroline was her best friend and it was weird being questioned by her mom. As the Gilbert's left the station the mood was sombre, and as they were leaving they all caught sight of Stefan waiting out front. "Stefan alert, Stefan alert, Stefan alert," Brea whispered in Elena's ear until she was shoved away.

"Rejected," Jenna smirked.

"Shut up!" Brea laughed at her childish aunt.

"I'll meet you guys at the car," Elena told them.

As they walked away, leaving Elena, Jenna sang, "don't you wish that you could be a…"

"Fly on the wall?" Brea finished. "Not for that one Jenna, that one may be messy," Brea said looking back at her twin.

* * *

Eventually, Elena met them at the car and the twins sat in the back seat. Brea had been playing piano notes with her hands on the empty seat next to her when Elena snapped "could you please cut that out, Brea."

"What?"

"The hand thing."

"Why?"

"It's irritating."

"But why is it irritating?"

"Why are you so annoying today," Elena huffed.

Before Brea could respond further her phone buzzed with a text from Jeremy who was sitting in the front seat.

J - Told you, angry Elena today.

B - No doubt. I think she's mad about this morning.

J - Hey, you did it. Not me.

B - You laughed, she's going to kill you for that later

J - I think she's mainly mad about Stefan. That makes it's your job to save us from angry Lena. Fix her.

B - What! Why's it my job? I don't want that job. Give it to Jenna!

J - You're the twin, it's part of the job

B - Bugger…

At this, Jeremy snorted and Elena shot her head up and turned to look at Brea, noticing Brea's wide eyes, she scowled and said,  
"are you two texting each other? You are aren't you?"

"No," Brea said too quickly.

"I hate you both," Elena grumbled looking out the window. Brea scowled at the back of her brothers head rest and reached forward and gave his head a shove.

* * *

Jeremy, Brea and Jenna sat at the dining table arguing under their breaths.

"Jenna, I'm not doing it. She's mad at me today. If I go over there she will kill me," Brea protested.

"I don't want to do it either, grumpy Elena is scary."

"Jenna someone has to go tell her not to wallow."

"I'm not doing it, I just lost Vicki, I'm too sad to do it," Jeremy said as the two girls turned to look at him.

"Oh my god, Jer! You sneaky devil you're playing the sympathy card!" Brea accused and Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.

"You're evil, but I'm totally in the same boat. Logan dumped me via email," Jenna remarked.

"Logan's a jerk, sorry Jen, and I hate to say it, but I told you so. I'll comfort Jer, you go talk to the demon twin," Brea suggested.

Jenna groaned, "I hate you, and I know you love saying I told you so," she whispered before walking over to the couch and plonking herself down next to Elena as Jeremy turned his attention back to whatever he was working on.

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy asked Elena and Jenna as their voices carried to the dining table.

"Why what are you doing?" Jenna asked.

"Homework," he answered. At this Elena turned to look at her brother in shock.

Brea looked up from her phone with a gasp and pulled Jeremy's workbook towards her so she could see. "Oh my god, guys! He's doing math! He's doing math! I thought you were drawing Jer."

"Since when do you do homework?" Elena asked, also shocked.

"I gotta finish this. I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow, so…" he trailed off going back to his studies.

"What do you think? Alien?" Elena suggested as Brea walked over to the back of the couch.

"Some sort of replicant," Jenna suggested.

"How do we take it down?" Brea asked.

"He can hear you," Jeremy scoffed.

"Oh my god, he can hear us, run!" Brea said teasingly. Brea and Elena then exchanged concerned looks wondering what Damon had done to change Jeremy so much.

* * *

"Oh my god thank god you're here Bon!" Brea said for joy when she opened the front door.

"Hey," Bonnie said hugging Brea.

"You don't know what I've been dealing with all day, she's a monster Bon!" Brea said about Elena and Bonnie just rolled her eyes. "Come on then, I'll show you," Brea said grabbing Bonnie's hand pulling her upstairs to Elena's room. Once they reached the door Brea hesitated. "You first," she said pushing Bonnie towards the door. Bonnie just raised her eyebrows at Brea with a small smile on her face. Brea shrugged, "last time I went in there she threw a pillow at my head," she explained as Bonnie giggled and opened the door gently.

"You up?" Bonnie asked Elena knocking on the door.

"No," Elena groaned, burying herself in her bed covers.

Bonnie turned to look at Brea questioningly. "She's only being nice because you're here. I swear, just asked Jeremy. Or even Jenna."

Bonnie walked over to Elena's bed and pulled the covers away despite Elena's protesting. "Why haven't you called me back?"

"I'm sorry."

"Are you gonna stay in there forever?" Bonnie asked as Brea slowly crept into the room.

"Yep."

"In that case can I borrow your clothes without asking?" Brea asked as both girls gave her funny looks. "What if she's all tucked away in bed she won't need them? I like her jackets."

"Move over," Bonnie said before gesturing Brea to join them on the bed. "I'm officially worried. What's going on?"

"I'm tired of thinking, of talking. I-"

"Can I get a one-line version so I can at least pretend to be helpful?" Bonnie asked as nicely as she could.

"Stefan and I broke up," Bonnie turned to look at Brea as Elena told her this.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention that I guess."

"I'm so sorry," Bonnie said focusing on Elena. "Are you ok?" Elena then gave her a look. "Right. Stupid question. I know I've been kind of M.I.A. when you need me the most. I suck."

"It's fine Bon, I mean, Brea could've been nicer to me," Elena said making Brea gasped incredulously at this. "But you wanna make it up to me? Get my mind off of it."

"I tried to get your mind off it," Brea grumbled.

"Yeah, by being painful all day."

"Excuse me! It was all Jeremy's idea," Brea lied.

"Was not," Elena scowled.

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Ok, ok," Bonnie said cutting the twins argument off. "I'll distract you, just stop," she sighed as the two twins fell silent. "Now remember you asked for it," Bonnie said climbing over Brea to shut the windows. She then grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced a pillow open.

"Hey!" Elena argued as Brea giggled.

"Payback for throwing it at my head earlier," Brea mumbled as Elena shot her sister a glare.

"Be patient," Bonnie reassured. "I need to swear you both to secrecy."

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff," Elena groaned.

"Swear, cause I'm not supposed to be showing you this."

"We swear Bonnie," Brea agreed for the two of them.

"Ok. There are no windows open, right?" Bonnie asked and Brea and Elena confirmed. "There's no fan, no air conditioning?"

"None. What are you doing?" Elena asked.

"Grams just showed me this. You two are gonna love it. You ready?" After this Bonnie started moving her hand upwards and a feather followed.

"What the!" Brea exclaimed.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Elena asked as Bonnie smiled and lifted more feathers into the air.

"Bonnie! This is amazing," Brea said in delight as Bonnie lifted heaps of feathers into the air around the twins.

"It's true. Everything my grams told me. It's impossible. But it's true. I'm a witch."

"A Bennett witch," Brea said with strange familiarity as Bonnie nodded smiling.

"I believe you," Elena said in awe as Brea sat back down feeling confused.

"I'll be back guys," Brea said bolting out of the room, suddenly feeling nauseous.

"Here my love," a voice whispered from behind her. Brea spun around and saw no one there. "It's for your birthday. I got my favourite witch Mary-Alice Claire to make it," this ghostly voice again came from behind Brea, making her yelp and spin around, only to find no one there. "It'll act as a partner to the ring you lost in Mystic Falls, all you need do is say my name whilst holding it and I'll be able to find you anywhere darling. It's connected to my daylight ring," with these last words Brea saw a faint outline of a man in front of her, reaching out for her hand. Brea screamed in fright as he reached out for her as she frantically took a few steps backward, tripping on the step at the top of the stairs and began to fall, only to have Jeremy catch her.

"Brea, what the hell!" he yelled concerned as Bonnie and Elena ran out of her room and Jenna ran up the stairs to see what the yells were about. Brea was hysterical and was panting with tears in her eyes.

"Brea are you ok?" Jenna asked as she frantically pushed hair behind her niece's ear as Jeremy lowered her to the ground.

"Did you see that?" she asked Jeremy.

"See what?"

"That man, he tried to touch me, he was talking to me," she said hyperventilating.

"There was no one there Brea," he said concerned.

"There was, there was," she said looking around.

"Brea, how'd you sleep last night?" Jeremy whispered to her. Brea couldn't use words to answer, she was in such a state, so she just shook her head. There was no way she could sleep without seeing what happened to Vicki played over and over in her head. "Maybe you just need some sleep," as he suggested as he helped her stand up and again whispered to her, "have a rest ok? Take some of the pills, you need them. Sorry, I asked you to stop." Brea smiled and started to make her way to her room as she heard Jeremy try to explain to a concerned Jenna, Elena and Bonnie that she was just exhausted and needed some rest. Brea entered her room and immediately took some of her sleeping pills and drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

* * *

When Brea woke up hours later, Elena was in bed with her, making her sit up quickly and yelled in fright. "Oh geez, Elena! You scared me."

"I'm miserable again," Elena moaned.

"Why? What happened?"

"I went to Stefan's house."

"Oh yay!" when Brea saw her sisters face she corrected herself "oh, I mean, oh no… what happened?"

"There was a towel girl," Elena moped.

"A what?" Brea giggled.

"A 'friend' of Stefan's, when I went there I saw her in a towel, and Stefan was in the shower."

"Oh, Lena, I'm so sorry."

"Whatever it's fine, your phones been buzzing like crazy," Elena said flipping over.

Brea reached for her phone and clicked onto voicemail. "Brenna Gilbert you haven't replied to my texts and now you are not answering my calls. I'm having a party. You need to be at the Grill by 7 or I will come to your house and drag you by your ears. Ok bye, sweetie!" Caroline ended her voice message in a cheery tone.

"Oh my god, Caroline is insane."

"What?"

"She's having a party at the Grill and we have to go," Brea said and Elena groaned.

"Brea, what happened earlier?" Elena asked both concerned and serious.

"Oh, nothing it was a lack of sleep. I haven't been sleeping well so I think I was just a bit delusional," Brea tried to brush off as Elena gave an uncertain nod. The doorbell rang and Elena groaned before getting up out of bed to answer it.

Elena came back upstairs, "that was Stefan."

"Oh my god, what! The nerve," Brea gasped as she sat back up.

"No, he actually explained everything. Lexie is 350 years old, oldest friend. Nothing romantic."

"Well that's good then," Brea looked at Elena's confused face. "Or maybe it isn't…"

"It's his birthday today, Stefan's."

"No way! Wow, he's like a billion today. Come on then," Brea said getting up.

"Where are we going?"

"Care's party. It's his birthday we have to go celebrate it."

"No I wanna stay in tonight Brea," Elena said resisting her sisters pull.

"Elena, come on, you like him right, let's go celebrate his birthday. Plus I'm scared Caroline will kill us if we don't show."

"Alright then," Elena said with a smile as the twins ran to get ready.

* * *

Half an hour later the twins walked into the Grill and Elena immediately saw Stefan.

"You're staring," Brea whispered in her ear as Damon walked into their line of sight and the twin's semi-happy faces dropped to pure distaste.

"Stefan smiles, alert the media," Damon mocked coming to stand next to the girls. "Brenna," he smirked as he greeted her, making her give him a small smile in return.

"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately," Elena scowled.

"Oh, you're right. Poor Stefan. Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother. Does it get tiring being so righteous?" Damon asked.

"It flares up in the presence of psychopaths," Elena snarked back.

"Woo! Nice one Lena!" Brea cheered as Elena grabbed her hand and they started walking away.

"Ouch. Well, consider this psychopath's feelings hurt," Damon said grabbing his chest.

"What did you do to our brother?" Elena asked spinning around.

"I'm gonna need a less vague question."

"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki, what else did you do to him?" Elena asked as Damon got closer.

"You asked me to take away his memory of fangs and rawr and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."

"He's doing homework Damon," Brea said. "Homework! I haven't seen him do homework since, well, since a while ago.

"He's acting differently. He seems ok with everything and a little too ok. I mean he's studying. He's not doing drugs. He's not drinking. Are you sure you didn't do anything else?" Elena elaborated.

"Elena, I took away his suffering." Elena nodded and then walked off.

"Thank you, Damon, you did a nice thing for my brother so, thanks," Brea mumbled before starting to walk off but Damon grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Now where did you get that ring?"

"Stefan gave it to me," she said yanking her hand back. "He said it belonged to Katherine's sister, you know, the sister you took to the Founder's Ball," she quipped and his smirk faltered. Brea then became sympathetic. "Look it's laced with vervain, to protect me from compulsion. But Stefan said you two were good friends so if you don't want me to have it…"

"No," Damon said grabbing her hands to stop her as she went to pull it off. "No, you keep it, it belongs to you," he said before rushing off.

"Hey you," Matt said coming up behind Brea, pulling her focus from staring after Damon. She just couldn't shake the feeling she already knew him somehow.

"Hey, Matty did not expect to see you here."

"No well, Caroline threatened me if I didn't show."

"Me too! We have to take her down, she's too powerful, we need a game plan." Brea said as she took notice of a girl at the bar staring at her. "Will you excuse me, Matt," Brea said walking off to the staring girl. "I'm sorry, have we met?" Brea asked, wanting to know why the girl was staring at her.

"Not yet. I'm Lexie."

"Lexie? Towel girl?" Brea asked with a smile as she realised this was Stefan's friend.

"Is that what I'm known as now?" Lexie laughed. "Your sister called me that too."

"Well, I'm Brenna, well, Brea is better, but... yeah."

"I know. Stefan told me," she said smiling, nodding her head toward Stefan and Elena talking.

"So you've known him for a long time right?"

"Over 100 years. I know he seems a bit uptight but, he's the nicest guy once you get to know him. And he would never ever hurt Elena, I can guarantee you that. Do you want a drink?"

"Um, a cola would be nice? Thanks."

"One cola coming up." As Lexie was getting Brea's drink, Brea saw Chad in a booth with Matt and lifted her hand to wave at him. "Boyfriend or ex?" Lexie asked.'

"Ex."

"Oh, what happened there?"

"I don't know, thanks," she said as Lexie handed her her drink. "It just wasn't right you know? I mean, when it's right you just know," she said and Lexie gave her a small smile.

"You'll find it one day, that I promise you."

"Brea!" Matt called from the booth waving her over.

"Looks like you're wanted," Lexie said giving her permission to leave.

"Yeah, it was really nice to meet you, Lexie, I mean it. I hope you hang around in town for a bit," Brea said with a smile before leaving. "Matt, what's up?" she asked.

"Chad is so wrong about something and I need you to settle it," Matt said. Matt was taking up most of his side of the booth so that Brea had to slide in next to Chad. "Fall or summer, which is the better season?"

"Seriously! You called me all the way over for that," Brea said bemusedly. "But Fall of course."

"See told you," Matt cheered.

"The leaves make it the winner Chad. Falling leaves, you just can't beat it," Brea giggled before Caroline place her glass on the table and pretty much fall on top of Matt as she tried to get into the booth.

"Whoa. Hey," Matt exclaimed as Brea leaned forward concerned.

"I slim… I'm slipped. I slipped," Caroline finally managed to get out.

"Hammered, huh?" Matt noticed.

"Dude this is two nights in a row," Brea said shaking her head.

"Well… a very nice but not handsome bartender was very kind to me tonight. Unlike the rest of the global humanverse."

Brea noticed Caroline's demeanour and asked, "are you ok Care?"

Caroline, not hearing her friend asked, "are you those curly fries?" as she spied the basket of fries on the table.

"Coffee for the drunk girl," Matt asked Chad.

When Chad didn't move fast enough, Brea said, "that means you Chad, please," and he sighed and got up to get coffee.

"Bad night huh?" Matt asked as Caroline sighed.

"Baddest," Brea leaned forward across the table and grabbed her hand concerned. "Am I shallow?" Caroline asked.

"Is that a trick question?" Matt asked unsure how to answer.

"I don't mean to be. I… I wanna be deep. I wanna be, like, the abyss deep."

"No offence Care, but deep's really not your scene."

At this Brea kicked Matt under the table. "Read the mood, Matt, read the mood," she hissed.

"That's true. I'm shallow. I am worse than shallow. I'm a kiddie pool," Caroline stuttered as she started to cry and Brea got up and knelt beside her.

"Care, you're perfect the way you are. Did someone say something to you?" Brea asked rubbing Caroline's arm.

"You're not a kiddie pool," Matt tried to comfort. "You're not a kiddie pool."

"Can I just go home?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, I'll take you, come on," Matt said. Caroline reached out to Brea beside her and tried to hug her but ended up falling out of the booth, pushing Brea over. Matt reached out quickly and caught Caroline before she hit the floor leaving Brea to tumble to the ground.

"Ouch Care," she winced.

"Sorry," Caroline apologised as she began to cry again.

"Oh, no, don't cry," Brea groaned as she tried to stand up.

"She's all right Caroline. She always falls over, it's no different from usual," Matt joked as he smirked at Brea despite her glare. "Hold still. Hold still," he instructed Caroline. "All right. 1, 2, 3," Matt counted as he picked Caroline up.

"Why do you never do that with me? It looks like fun," Brea asked.

"You never get drunk Brea," Matt smiled.

"Hey could you drop me home on your way," she asked. "I've had enough of this. I only came because I was scared Caroline would attack me if I didn't."

"Yeah sure come on," he nodded as the three of them walked outside, only to see a few police cars out front.

"Oh my god Sheriff warning!" Brea hissed to Matt as Sheriff Forbes caught sight of Caroline in Matt's arms and began running over.

"What happened? Is she ok?" she asked.

"Like you care," Caroline mumbled.

"She's drunk?" Sheriff Forbes realised.

"As a skunk," Caroline joked, causing Brea's eyes to widen and she slapped a hand over her friend's mouth, so she wouldn't get in more trouble with her mom.

"Are they serving you in there?" the Sheriff asked angrily.

"I'll take her home. It's on my way, I'm taking Brea home too. I haven't been drinking," Matt hesitantly answered.

"I would appreciate that, Matt. Thank you," as Sheriff Forbes said this, Brea removed her hand from Caroline's mouth. "You and I will discuss this later."

"Mmm, can't wait," Caroline sung as Brea closed her eyes to grimace and Matt walked away with Caroline. As Brea went to follow Sheriff Forbes pulled her back.

"Look into my eyes, Brea."

"I haven't been drinking Liz," Brea said nervously as Liz studied her eyes.

"Ok, sweetie. Thank you for helping Caroline," she nodded, letting Brea run after Matt. As Brea chased after Matt, she stumbled on a step and fell down a few, quickly grabbing onto the railing to stop herself falling to the ground again.

"Ok, I know how that looks but I swear I didn't drink," Brea quickly defended as she turned back to face Liz who just smiled at the girl. She'd known Brea for years and was well aware she had a clumsy streak at times.

As Brea got in the backseat of Matt's truck she heard Caroline singing, "I got a pocket, got a pocket full of sunshine, I got a got a love and it's all mine woah, oh wooo."

"Wow Care, you're usually a great singer," Brea laughed as she listened to her sings off tune rendition.

"This is going to be a long drive home," Matt groaned. The rest of the drive to the Gilbert house was filled with Caroline singing very off-key songs, from rock songs to nursery rhymes. "Ok stop 1, Gilbert house," Matt laughed at his joke from the front.

"Hilarious," Brea remarked sarcastically. "Thanks for the lift Matt, see you tomorrow, good luck," Brea said gesturing to Caroline before getting out of the car.

As Brea got inside the house she saw Jeremy watching TV on the couch so decided to sneak past him up to her room. When she got up there she immediately got changed and ready for bed before quickly falling asleep hoping for an uninterrupted night of sleep.


	13. History Repeating

"Caroline!" Brea yelled spotting her friend.

"Hey you two," Caroline grumbled at the twins.

"And how are we feeling little miss drunkard?" Brea asked.

"Don't even start. I can't. I made a fool of myself last night," Caroline groaned.

"Have you even talked to Bonnie?" Elena asked.

"No. I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move," Caroline huffed, she and Bonnie had gotten into a fight the night of the Halloween party.

"Be the bigger person," Elena suggested.

"Impossible in her presence."

"Why are you two even fighting?" Brea asked.

"She's a thief. That's why. I gave her my necklace and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle."

"Yeah, but didn't you give it to Bonnie, making it hers?" Brea asked. "Sorry," she mumbled when Caroline glared at her.

"All right. Well, we tried. We are both officially out of it," Elena sighed.

"Good. Your turn Elena. Where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?" Caroline asked.

Elena and Brea exchanged glances, as Elena had filled Brea in this morning, last she had seen Stefan, he had been storming off to kill Damon as revenge for killing Lexie. "He's avoiding me," Elena then answered Caroline.

"Why?"

"It's complicated," Elena said with hesitation.

"We have to get to class, so we'll see you later Care," Brea said, dragging Elena way before Caroline could ask any more questions.

* * *

"No Stefan," Brea noted as she and Elena entered history class.

"Yeah, duh. I noticed," Elena snapped.

"Ok, snippy," Brea said raising her eyebrows.

"Sorry," Elena mumbled as she slumped into her seat.

"Good morning, everyone," the new teacher said as he entered the room. "Alrighty. Alaric Saltzman," he said reading his name out as he wrote it on the board. "It's a mouthful. I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough," he joked. "You'll probably want to pronounce it 'Ala-ric,' but it's 'A-lar-ic' ok? So you can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher."

Brea's eyes widened, he was perfect. "Lena," she whispered leaning over to her sister.

"What?" she snapped.

"What do you think?" she said gesturing her head to Mr Saltzman. "Cute huh?"

"Yeah and way too old for you," she scoffed.

"No, not for me! For our lonely aunt of course."

"Oh, not bad picking. I like it," Elena said with an approving nod.

* * *

Brenna hung back after class to talk to Mr Saltzman as everyone cleared out. "Yes, how may I uh, how may I help you?" he asked, shocked to see someone waiting for him.

"Hi, I'm Brenna Gilbert, um, Brea Gilbert, I'm just wondering if it's ok if I have a quick chat with you about my brother?" she asked. "His name's Jeremy."

"Ah Jeremy Gilbert, yes I did get an entire file on him from your old teacher."

"Ha! Oh my god really! I knew Tanner had a file on him but Jer never believed me! Look, I don't know if it was in the file, but our parents died a few months back and Jer just fell off the rails and Tanner really had it in for him when his behaviour dropped. I mean it was slightly fair, Jer was the biggest troublemaker. But Mr Saltzman, he's really trying to turn it around, I mean, he's doing homework again. He didn't even do homework before the accident. I just, I'd really appreciate if you wouldn't mind starting on a clean slate with him? Help him a fresh start," Brea asked.

"Thank you, Brea, I will make a note to talk to him. I agree with you though. I think a new teacher means a clean slate. Thank you though, for expressing your concern."

"Thank you, Mr Saltzman, I'll see you, next class," Brea said leaving with a smile.

"Brea!" someone yelled as she left the classroom and grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and carried her.

"What the hell!" she said whipping her head around to see who it was. "Ty! What in the world are you doing you miscreant! Put me down."

"Here," he said putting her down around the corner. "I needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I heard something. A rumour. Well, not a rumour, I heard it from the source. Chad wants to ask you out again."

"He what!" Brea gasped before she groaned. "Why?"

"Yeah I know, I wanted to come to you first, you know, see if you'd be ok with it or want me to try to get him to back off. He said you guys had been reconnecting," Tyler shrugged.

"Back him off. Get him to back him off. I thought we were getting back to being friends, but that's it, not more."

"Ok, I got your back," Tyler smiled, slapping her shoulder lightly. "I'll get him to back off. Hey, do you want to come over tonight? Watch a movie? My mom and dad are at some town council meeting."

"Ah maybe, I'll let you know, something better might come up," Brea teased.

"Ouch!" he laughed.

"Yeah thought so," Brea laughed. "I'll catch you later."

* * *

As Brea walked out of the school she saw Damon and Bonnie talking and Bonnie rushing into her car. Brea walked up to the car seeing as that was her lift home.

"What the hell was that?" she asked Damon who had walked toward her, meeting her in the middle of the grass.

"And what exactly would you be asking about Miss Gilbert?" he smiled.

"That thing with Bonnie over there, leave her alone Damon, I mean it."

"I want my crystal back."

"You mean Caroline's necklace?" Brea asked and he nodded. "Well, you're not getting it back. Besides, it wouldn't match your eyes."

"How've you been holding up?" he asked. "Since Halloween? Your heads healing nicely," he said as he pushed some hair out of her face.

Brenna frowned, confused as to why he was nice to her, "why do you care?" she asked.

"Just do," he smiled, dropping his hand. "Have a good night," he smirked before walking away. Brea stared after him before she heard Elena calling her name and she walked over to Bonnie's car, ready to go home.

* * *

"He's bad news guys, he really scared me, guys," Bonnie said talking about how Damon wanted her seemingly haunted necklace back in his possession.

"You need to stay as far away from Damon as possible," Elena warned.

"Here, here," Brea agreed.

"I'm trying. He just keeps showing up."

"I don't want you to be alone. You're sleeping at our place tonight. We can make a whole night out of it," Elena smiled.

"Oh yay girls night, we haven't had one of them in a while," Brea cheered.

Bonnie then abruptly pulled over the car and got out. "Where are you going?" Elena asked as Bonnie ran off and threw the necklace into a field and got back in the car.

"You teach that necklace a lesson Bon," Brea laughed as Bonnie smiled in relief.

"Are you ok?" Elena asked more concerned.

"Now I am. All my problems were because of that thing. Can't believe I didn't do that sooner."

"What's your grams going to say?" Elena asked

"Oh, she's gonna be so mad!" Brea giggled.

"Grams isn't the one being haunted by a 150-year-old ghost, is she?" Bonnie argued.

"Ok, then," Elena muttered as Bonnie started driving again.

* * *

As the three girls walked into the Gilbert house Jeremy and Jenna were leaving, as Jeremy passed Brea on the way out he asked "Grill?"

"Yep," Brenna said turning around and walking right out back out the door as Elena and Bonnie called after her, protesting about her missing girls night.

As soon as the three walked into the Grill Brea elbowed Jeremy in the ribs. "Ow!" he complained, shoving her shoulder.

"Guys, we're in public," Jenna discouraged.

Brea locked eyes with Jeremy and pointed out Mr Saltzman eating alone. "For Jenna," she whispered. "Elena agrees." Jeremy's eyes lit up and he gave her a devious smile and nodded, ready to play matchmaker. "And on the plus side, he's not chatting up every lady in here, so already better than Logan."

All three sat down, "know what you want guys?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, hey Jenna, look at that lovely looking gentleman over there," Brea said pointing Mr Saltzman out.

"I like a man who can dine alone, a quiet strength," Jenna mused as she stared and Brea gave Jeremy a thumbs up. "Knock it off Brea," she said turning back around.

"I thought you were still in that whole Logan depression thing," Jeremy noted causing Brea to kick him under the table. "Ow!"

"Oh, I've sworn off men forever, but it doesn't mean I can't observe them from a safe distance."

"No Jenna no! Spread your wings, don't give up. He could be the one, he could be the one!" Brenna sang.

"Is that from Hannah Montana?" Jeremy asked with a smirk.

"How do you know that's from Hannah Montana, Jer?" Brea laughed, causing Jenna's eye's to widen in delight.

"Shut up," Jeremy muttered turning pink. "We can introduce you to him," Jeremy suggested.

"Yeah we have an in, Jenna, we're just that cool," Brea said, gesturing between herself and Jeremy, but Jenna just shook her head.

"He's actually really nice Jenna, he's our new history teacher. He's letting me do some extra credit. A paper. On anything I want," Jeremy added.

"Oh yay Jer that's great!" Brea cheered.

"You picked a topic?" Jenna asked.

"No, not yet. It's gotta be local and non-internet research, so…"

"Well, that's easy. You got all your dad's stuff," Jenna said.

"What stuff?" Brea and Jeremy asked.

"How the Gilberts came over on the 'Mayflower' stuff. All that family lineage from way back. Your dad really loved all that family history stuff. It's all boxed up in the closet."

"Yeah, we should really clean that closet out," Brea noted as the other two nodded in agreement at the thought of their messy closet. Brea noticed Mr Saltzman making a move towards their table out of the corner of her eye and rapidly started tapping Jeremy's foot.

"Mr Saltzman!" Jeremy said enthusiastically as he reached the table.

"Jeremy, Brea, what's up?" he asked.

"This is my aunt Jenna," Jeremy introduced.

"The lovely, lovely Aunt Jenna," Brea elaborated.

"Alaric Saltzman. It's nice to meet you," he introduced himself.

"Jeremy was just telling me about his paper. Thanks for giving him another chance," Jenna smiled

"Oh, you know, it was my first day. I wanted to make a good impression," he shrugged.

"Jer and I are going to get some drinks. Does anyone want anything? No? Cool yep got it," Brea said quickly, dragging Jeremy off before anyone could actually request a drink.

"Ow, ow, what are we doing?" Jeremy asked.

"Giving the two privacy to hit it off, duh," she said, as she and Jeremy snuck out of the side exit of the Grill.

Both Jeremy and Brea's phones buzzed at the same time as they got a message to the 'No Elena' group chat.

Jenna - Real subtle you two! :)

"We did it!" Jeremy cheered.

"We are too good! Jer, if we play our cards right, he might be the one to convince Jenna to let us get a kitten!"

"No way, I want a puppy" he disagreed as they started walking towards home.

"We agreed on a kitten when we were younger. That was a binding contract between siblings," Brea argued.

"I was 4!"

Brea's phone buzzed again.

E - Where are you? So much for a girls night, I'm dying here Brenna. I've got Care and Bonnie and they're at each other's throats.

B - I'm on my way, sorry twinster.

As soon as she clicked send on the message she groaned, "check it out Jer, I am going to be in so much trouble. I just called Elena twinster, she's going to kill me when we get home."

"Oh yeah, you are so dead," he laughed as he looked at the text.

"Oh shoot, I need to text Ty," Brea realised.

B - Sorry pal, not going to be able to make it, see ya tomorrow... that is if Elena lets me live that long

"Urgh, you're talking to that jerk again?" Jeremy groaned.

"He's not a jerk to me Jer. He's my best friend. And he apologised."

"He didn't apologise to me and in case you forgot I'm the one he actually had a fight with."

"Do you want an apology? I will noogie it out of him," Brea said with a smile as she annoyingly poked her brother's cheek.

"No way, I will be more than happy if I never have to speak to him again."

"I get it Jer. But please," she said stopping, "please don't fight with him again. You know how he struggles with his dad, he just struggles to contain his temper sometimes."

"I won't go for him," Jeremy agreed as they started walking again. "If he comes for me though…"

"Hit him," Brea laughed as they reached the front door of the house. As they got to the door it flung open and Caroline and Elena screamed in fright as they nearly ran into the siblings.

"What the hell," Jeremy said irritated as he walked through to the kitchen.

"You two are weird," Brea said acknowledging the strange behaviour. "What've you been doing the past couple of hours? Watching horror movies or something?"

"I'm outta here," a panting Caroline said running past Brea.

"See ya," Brea called after her before turning to Elena to see her lunging across the room to grab her phone. "What are you doing?" Brea asked, confused at the strange behaviour

Elena ignored her sister and frantically called a number. "It's Bonnie," she said to the person on the other line.

"Where is Bonnie?" Brea asked looking around to find the other friend that was meant to be here as Elena just raised a hand to silence her.

"Emily is possessing her. She said something"

"What! Emily? As in necklace ghost Emily?" Brea gasped. What had she missed?

Elena continued ignoring Brea and said "she said 'I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed.' And then she just left."

"Elena, what is going on?" Brea asked frantically.

"I don't know," Elena said to both Brea and who Brea assumed must be Stefan on the other end of the phone. "Fells Church, by the old cemetery."

"Oh I've been there," Brea said.

"We've never been there," Elena said quickly to Brea. "That's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. We have to help her, Stefan." Elena then hung up the phone and grabbed Brea's hand dragging her out the door to the car.

* * *

Brea's phone buzzed with a message from Jeremy.

J - He dropped her home! Mr Saltzman dropped her home! We did it. We are da bomb. But it's our history teacher. What if it doesn't work out and we end up with bad grades? Damn now I'm having regrets.

Brea laughed lightly at her brother before she looked over at her sister. "Elena I swear you have to tell me what in the world is going on."

"Bonnie is possessed by Emily, her ancestor who used to own the necklace, we have to help her. Damon will kill her if he finds out, he needs the necklace for some reason. Stefan was trying to find out why," Elena hurriedly said as the car came to a screaming halt and the girls got out and ran. "Bonnie!" Elena screamed when she saw their friend.

"Oh my lord that is a lot of fire," Brea screeched. "Bonnie get out of there!" she yelled spotting her friend in the middle of the flames. Stefan ran away from Damon's side and towards the two girls, stopping them getting closer to the flames.

Bonnie threw the necklace into the air and Damon roared in despair "no!" as it exploded. The flames then died down and Bonnie looked around confused and then screamed as Damon attacked her. Stefan sped away and ripped Damon off of her while Elena and Brea ran towards a now unconscious Bonnie. Stefan bent down pressing his ear to her chest as the two twins stood there in shock.

"She's alive, but barely. I can save her," Stefan told them before biting his wrist and feeding her his blood as the twins glared at Damon in hatred.

"Her neck," Elena gasped making Brea look down, "it's healing." Brea let out a breath as she saw the puncture wounds on Bonnie's neck close up.

Brea then stormed towards Damon and slapped him in the face. "How could you do that to me?" she hissed. Damon just looked down in disappointment. "She's my friend." Stefan moved to Brea's side, ushering her away from a devastated Damon and towards Elena's car where Bonnie was now looking around in confusion.

"I don't understand, Elena, what happened to me?" Bonnie asked as Brea came from behind to stand next to her. "He attacked me and… his face was like…"

"How do you feel? Are you ok?" Elena as Brea rubbed her arms in comfort.

"It's… it's just this blood… I don't…" Bonnie stuttered in shock before her face turned to fear as she saw Stefan.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured her.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked the twins more forcefully.

"I'll explain everything ok Bonnie? Let's just get out of here," Elena told her.

"I'll be back Lena," Brea said, looking behind her were Damon was now sitting up against a tree.

Brea went to walk towards him when Stefan cut her off. "Woah no I wouldn't go over there," Stefan protested.

"It's fine, Stefan, I'll be back," Brea assured before she walked off and sat down in front of Damon. "Damon... what was so important about that necklace?" she asked.

"Katherine. She's alive. I got Emily Bennett to seal her in a tomb underneath the old church in 1864. I just wanted her back," he said devastated. Damon then looked up at Brea "I just wanted her back. Don't you?" he asked seriously and Brea tilted her head in confusion.

"Enough Damon. Brenna lets get your back to the car," Stefan said as he approached the pair.

"Ok," Brea agreed before placing a comforting hand on Damon's shoulder and walking off to the car.

* * *

Elena was upstairs with Bonnie telling her the whole vampire story whilst Brea was downstairs helping Jenna clean up the dining room.

"Kids are so messy," Jenna groaned.

"Jeremy is so messy," Brenna corrected. "Elena and I are fine."

"He pulled out all these boxes and left them all over the…" Jenna trailed off lifting up an old photo of her and Logan Fell.

"Urgh, rip that up Jenna, his ugliness washes out your beauty,"

"I didn't think my beauty could be washed out," Jenna laughed, placing a hand on her nieces face before making up her mind and ripping the photo.

"Oh wow, I didn't think you'd actually do it! Your date with Mr Saltzman must've gone well then," Brea teased.

"Oh yeah, by the way, Jeremy is sulking in his room because you apparently didn't reply to his text," Jenna said changing the subject.

"God teenagers are needy," Brea joked as the doorbell rang. "How rude! Jenna, don't answer it. It's midnight, way too late," she said chasing her aunt to the door. "Ew, gross," she said when Jenna opened it to reveal Logan on the other side of the door.

"Hello, Jenna."

"Logan," Jenna said in shock.

"Shut the door Jenna, shut it," Brea whispered in her aunt's ear.

"Aren't you gonna invite me in?" he asked smiling at Jenna.

"Why are you here, Logan?" Jenna asked, ignoring his request to come in.

"I missed you. I was out of town," he explained.

"Yeah. I got that e-mail," she scoffed.

"Very rude email by the way," Brea added.

"You got an email?" he asked confused.

"You didn't send an email?" Jenna said trying to jog his memory.

"I can explain," he said moving on. "Just invite me in, and I'll tell you anything."

"No way," Brea jumped in. "Jenna has a new boyfriend," she exaggerated before saying, "we don't want you around here."

"I'm not gonna invite you in. Forget it," Jenna sassed.

"Come on Jenna. It's me," he said trying to charm her.

"Yeah, you, Logan the jerk," Brea snarled.

"Brea," Jenna huffed. "The answers no," she told him.

"I know you. You're always one step from a maybe. A tiny nudge to yes," he smirked.

"Calling my aunt a pushover? Good tactic," Brea snorted

"Yeah, you just pointed out that I have no self-control. Yes, clever strategy," Jenna snapped sarcastically before slamming the door in his face.

"Good riddance!" Brea cheered.

"Bed," Jenna ordered, putting her hands on Brea's shoulders and walking her towards the stairs.


	14. The Turning Point

"What are you reading Jer?" Brea said passing her brothers room.

"Crazy Jonathan Gilbert's journal, you should read it. It's a good laugh," he said getting back to it as Brea walked into Elena's room.

"Yo, yo," Brea said enthusiastically.

"Brenna, I am never going to give you the reply you want for that. Stop trying," Elena smiled walking into the bathroom and freezing before frantically waving Brea over. "Look, he's sketching!" she gasped as she pointed to Jeremy in the next room, who had put down the journal and began drawing in his sketchbook.

"Oh my god, I think Damon single-handedly saved our baby brother's life," Brea smiled as she and Elena shut the door and headed downstairs.

"Jeremy's got his sketch pad out," Elena rushed to tell Jenna when they got downstairs.

"You're kidding!" Jenna gasped.

"Nope, but don't say a word. The minute we encourage him, he'll put it away," Elena said.

"He's a fickle one that Jer," Brea muttered.

"Psychology major, check that," Jenna suggested to Elena. Brea nudged Jenna to point out a mopey Elena staring at her phone. "You and Stefan? Update?"

"He knows how I feel and where I stand. And I know where he stands, but it doesn't matter. He's leaving, moving away."

"We should start a soap opera," Brea suggested only to be met with glares. "Fine, nevermind, sorry. I thought it was a gold mine but never mind."

"Where's he going?" Jenna asked.

"I've stopped asking questions. The answers get scary," Elena sighed.

"Alaska," Brea jokingly whispered to Jenna.

"That is scary. Yours leaves, mine returns," Jenna told Elena.

"Logan?" Elena frowned.

"He's back," Jenna nodded

"Yep, the jerk face is back," Brea huffed.

"I didn't let him past the front door."

"I hope you slammed it in his face," Elena said.

"Oh yes, you're finally on the right side of things," Brea cheered. "And she did, I was very proud."

"You sounded English then Brea," Elena laughed.

"It was a medium slam," Jenna muttered, annoyed she didn't close it harder.

"3-strike rule, Jenna. You're not even allowed to watch the news," Elena teased.

"Exactly. No more Logan 'Scum' Fell."

"This is so my day!" Brea said excitedly as they got in the car. "My twin is on our Logan hating side, my scum fell nickname was just used in a sentence and I can get Jeremy to start drawing scary pictures again to leave on Elena's pillow."

* * *

Brea was standing next to Tyler while he spoke with someone on the football team when she saw Caroline and Matt walking together, so she hit his arm hard and they both stared at their two friends talking.

"Well this is news," she said shocked.

"Not sure I like it," Tyler said.

"Oh my god, imagine the little blonde babies they'd have!" Brea cooed, deliberately trying to get under his skin.

"Ew, ew, ew. Never say that to me again," Tyler said shaking his head trying to get rid of the images.

"You're in charge of investigating Tyler," Brea said, slapping her hand onto his shoulder.

"What? Why?"

"You owe me, you ask him," Brea shrugged.

"What do I owe you for?"

"Jer."

"Ok, fair, fair. Why don't you ask Matt though? You guys are tight."

"Well, because his ex-girlfriend is my twin sister, duh."

"So?"

"So if I ask him, it'll look like Elena was asking."

"You may have a point."

"Find out, you have 2 hours," Brea jokingly instructed as she walked away.

* * *

"What'd you find out?" Brea asked as she came to stand next to Tyler as he was looking over his sketches at the careers fair later that day.

"Apparently nothing is going on. Time will tell. I think he's got a thing for her," he told Brea.

"That's good, that way he can stop moping over my sister. Makes him such a downer." At this Tyler turned his head to smile at Brea.

"You're in a cheeky mood this evening Brea," he said with a smirk.

"I feel good. It's my day Ty! Everything is falling right into place. I should enter the lottery! I'll split the winnings with you and we can run away to the Bahamas." Tyler just shook his head smiling and looked back down at the sketches he drew. "Hey Jer," Brea said noticing her brother staring.

"What do you want?" Tyler asked.

"Hey. Uh, just surprised to see you here. Art usually implies culture and culture implies, well, not you."

"Jer!" Brea snapped, rolling her eyes at her brother's rudeness.

"Go to hell," Tyler sneered before leaving, trying to avoid another fight with Brea's little brother.

"Seriously Jer? He's actually trying to be civil. You could try too, clean slate remember, you promised me," Brea said walking off to follow Tyler.

"I'm grumpy," Matt whined coming to Brea and walking with her.

"And why is that Matthew?"

"Thought I was making progress with Elena but then Stefan came."

"Matthew! What would Caroline say?" Brea gasped, playfully shoving him with her elbow.

"Oh come on, not you too," he groaned as they reached Tyler.

"Trouble in paradise Ty, Matt and Care are already fighting. Oh no," Brea groaned as she spotted Logan Fell walking through the halls. "I gotta find Jenna, if either of you sees her, you're not to let Logan Fell near her? Got it?" she demanded, raising her finger to point in their faces until they nodded. "Great, thank you. I'll catch you guys later," she said running to find Jenna. "Jenna! The scum Fell has landed, I repeat the scum Fell has landed, run, run," she said pushing her aunt into the nearest classroom. "Oh hey, Stefan, Elena. Hide us."

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"The scum Fell has landed," Jenna said to Elena, mocking what Brea had yelled at her moments ago.

"Logan's here?" Elena asked.

"Wait. Logan Fell?" Stefan clarified.

"No, Logan scum Fell. You have to add the scum Stef, or it just doesn't work," Brea told him. After hearing this Stefan ran off. "He's always been a strange one," Brea explained to Jenna as Elena followed him out.

"I think you're the strange one sweetie," Jenna smiled as she took Brea's hand and lead her out of the classroom and directly into the path of Logan Fell.

"Jenna, are you dodging me?" Logan asked.

"Run, Jenna, run," Brea whispered as she tried to pull her aunt away from him.

"It's a form of self-preservation," Jenna snarked.

Stefan and Elena saw the confrontation brewing and quickly ran back over to them. "Um, Elena, why don't you, Brea and Jenna go somewhere else," Stefan suggested.

"Stefan, we're big kids," Brea started to argue but then Elena dragged them both off by their hands. "Wow, geez Elena! Chill you, psychopath."

"He's a vampire," Elena whispered in Brea's ear making her eyes go wide. "When Logan came to the house, what did he say?" Elena demanded of Jenna.

"Fake flattery. Stupid, dimpled grin, puppy dog eyes," Jenna groaned.

"I'm serious, Jenna. How did he act? What did he say?" Elena pressed.

"Bit pushy, Lena," Brea warned.

"He was the usual Logan, was charming, little more manic than usual. He kept trying to convince me to let him in."

"We didn't let him in," Brea interjected as she saw Elena's face. "We're better than that aren't we Jenna?" Brea said, raising a hand for Jenna to high-five proudly.

"Ok, listen to me very carefully," Elena said, putting her hands on Jenna's shoulders. "Do not, under any circumstances, talk to him again. I'm serious, Jenna, like, ever."

Jenna was giving Elena a funny look so Brea stepped in to cover for her, "we just really don't like him, Jenna. If you talk to him we'll stage a coup and overthrow you as the adult of the house and make you sleep in the basement."

"We don't have a basement?" Jenna frowned.

"We'll make a basement just for you to sleep in."

"Hey Elena, Brea, Jenna," Mr Saltzman greeted, coming up behind Jenna.

"Hi, Mr Saltzman," Elena politely replied.

"Heyyy," Brea smiled making a winky eye at Jenna.

"Yeah, I was hoping to, uh, see you tonight," he said to Jenna.

"Career night is the new bowling," Jenna joked making Mr Saltzman laugh.

"They're so cute," Brea whispered to Elena.

"Ok, um, excuse us," Elena said dragging Brea away. "Go find Tyler or something," Elena ordered lightly shoving Brea as she walked off.

"You're a bully Elena Gilbert," Brea called out after her sisters retreating figure.

* * *

"I've been ditched by my sister," Brea said when she found Tyler.

"Life isn't fair now is it?"

"My great day has been totally flipped on its head with the return of Logan 'Scum' Fell."

"You never liked the guy did you," Tyler laughed.

"Come on Ty, you know the story of the evil Logan and the poor innocent Aunt Jenna," Brea said as he laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't know you drew," Jeremy said, coming towards the pair.

"It's an elective," Tyler answered pulling his arm off of Brea as his mood swung into dangerous territory at the sight of her brother.

"'Cause it's good stuff, you like graphics? Cause that's, uh- that's kind of my thing," Jeremy said making Brea smile at his effort to play nice.

"Whoa. Whoa. What are you doing?" Tyler asked stopping.

"Well, it's just something else we have in common."

"He's being nice Ty," Brea growled annoyed.

"And what's the other thing? Vicki? Let's hang out because we did the same chick," Tyler snarked.

"I was actually gonna say, Brea," Jeremy growled as Brea tensed up at the situation.

"Go be friends with one of the many other guys that Vicki screwed. There's no shortage of em," Tyler snapped, making Brea move from his side over to her brothers.

"What the hell Ty? That's Matt's sister!" Brea yelled at him. Before Brea could drag her brother away, Jeremy had lunged at Tyler, shoving him across the hall into a locker. "What the hell! Stop it!" Brea screamed at the two of them as the Mayor and Mr Saltzman ran at the boys and yanked them apart before it could turn into a full-on brawl.

"You two, follow me," the mayor ordered, pulling Jeremy and Tyler away as Brea stared in concern after them.

"Excuse me, mayor," Mr Saltzman interjected. "Where are you taking them?"

"I'm gonna talk to them. All fights should end in handshakes, don't you think?" the mayor answered before walking off with the two boys.

"Mr Saltzman, I don't want to put you out," Brea said following him as he went to walk off. "But the mayor is really aggressive, I've spent a lot of time at his house and he is the very definition of mean. I don't trust him not to do something bad to them." Mr Saltzman nodded and grabbed her arm gently, ushering her to where the boys went. As they got outside they heard the mayor yelling aggressively at the boys, ordering them to fight.

"Whoa. What's going on out here?" Mr Saltzman intervened.

"Just letting these two kids work it out, we're good here. Go back inside," he snapped at Mr Saltzman as Brea walked past him and grabbed Jeremy's arm and went to pull him inside, but the mayor stepped in front of the siblings, blocking their path.

"I don't want to go back inside," Mr Saltzman retorted. "What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" the mayor said with sass. "Do I look like a student?"

"No, you look like a full-grown alpha male douche bag," Mr Saltzman snarkily replied. Tyler and Brea locked eyes at this trying to contain laughter.

"You don't talk to me like that," the mayor warned. "I can have your job like this," he said snapping his fingers to demonstrate.

"Ah, you do that. Then it'll be me and you in this parking lot working things out. You cool with that?"

"Oh he is so perfect for Jenna," Brea whispered to Jeremy as he nodded.

"You just marked yourself," the mayor snapped before dragging Tyler back inside.

"You all right?" Mr Saltzman asked Jeremy as he smiled widely at his new favourite teacher.

* * *

"Want a ride home?" Brea asked Jeremy as she walked with him through the hall.

"Yeah, where's Elena?"

"Got a ride with Stefan apparently. Who knows what's going on between those two," Brea said with a small smile.

"Jenna?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, she will be getting a ride with Mr Saltzman because there will be no nieces or nephew in sight."

"Nice. Smart and evil. I like it," Jeremy nodded.

"Come on," she said gesturing and they began walking out of the school.

"Hey," Jeremy said as they passed Tyler.

"What do you want?" Tyler snapped.

"Not again," Brea murmured and both guys shook their heads.

"I don't know, I uh, I thought that was weird with your dad, what he did. Is he like that all the time? Is that- is that what you gotta go through?" Jeremy asked with genuine concern, he had never seen that side to mayor Lockwood, the side that Brea knew only too well. "Man, I- I get it. I get it." Tyler's fist then swung and he punched Jeremy whilst Brea gasped. "What's your problem!" Jeremy yelled as he held his nose.

"Let me see, let me see," Brea pleaded as she tried to grab Jeremy's face in her hands, but he just kept squirming away.

"Look, I don't need your pity," Tyler snapped.

"Seriously, you don't have to be like this, you don't. Why don't you let people see the nice side, the side you show her!" Jeremy said, gesturing to Brea.

"Just go!" Tyler snapped.

"Jer, let's go," Brea pleaded as she pulled on his arm. She didn't want to be anywhere near Tyler right now. She was trying her hardest to stop herself from going over and slapping Tyler.

Jeremy yelled out "what is your problem man?"

"I don't know," Tyler called back sulking off aware that he was once again in Brea's bad books.

"Just keep walking, just keep walking, just keep walking," Brea chanted.

"I am," Jeremy said snatching his arm out of Brea's hand.

"I'm talking to myself Jer. Because all I'm thinking right now is how badly I want to kick his ass," Brea said getting in the car and driving to their house too mad to even talk to her brother.

* * *

As Brea pulled up in the driveway her phone rang, "go, I'll see you inside," she said quietly to Jeremy as he got out of the car and she answered Elena's call. "Hey, Lena, what's up?"

"Brea!" she called through tears. "I need you to pick me up, now, please. Brea, please."

"Woah, woah, where are you? Lena where are you?" Brea asked frantically.

"I don't know, somewhere on the highway outside Stefan's house."

"What! He didn't give you a lift home?"

"No, something happened, I can't tell you over the phone please, Brea, please pick me up. I just ran out of his house."

"Lena, Lena, I'm coming ok, I'll see you soon." Brea pulled out of the driveway and got on the highway to find her sister. When she saw her sister walking along the side of the road, she rolled down her window and called out, "LENA!" as she pulled up beside herm letting her sister get in the car. "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching over to brush the hair out of twin's tear-stained face.

"We look like them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Katherine and her sister. Katherine's sister, her name, it's Brenna. Her name is Brenna. We look like them. Just like them."

Brea froze "what?" she asked confused, but Elena just looked forward, glassy-eyed so Brea pulled out onto the road and started driving as Elena sniffled next to her. "So how do we look similar?" she asked after a few moments silence.

"No, not similar. Exactly the same. We could be… twins. LOOK OUT!" Elena screamed as they both noticed a man standing in the middle of the road. Brea tried to swerve, but she couldn't in time and the car hit the man on the road, causing the car to flip and roll across the road.

"Elena," Brea moaned after the car stopped flipping and looked over to her twin to see her thankfully still conscious and coughing. "Oh my god, Elena, thank god," Elena turned to look at Brea and quickly her traumatised face turned into one of fear.

"Brea," she whispered. "Look." Brea turned her head to see what Elena was so scared of. The man she had hit with her car was cracking his arms and legs and slowly standing up. Both girls started panicking as he stood up on his feet and were frantically trying to free themselves from the wreckage. The man started stalking towards the car and as his feet reached Brea's side of the wreckage the girls grabbed each other's hands. As he started leaning down, they both screamed at the top of their lungs. The strange man then abruptly ran away. As Brea moved forward a bit to see if he was still there, another man jumped to the ground next to her head causing them both to scream again.

"How ya doing in there?" the new man asked.

"Damon?" Elena said making Brea open her eyes and realise it was Damon by her door.

"You both look stuck," he noted with concern.

"Please help me, Damon, I can't get out Damon," Brea cried.

"It's the seatbelt," Elena told him as Brea closed her eyes. Damon stood up and adjusted some of the wreckage so he could get the girls out.

"I'll get you guys out of here don't worry," he comforted. "Brenna, I need you to focus, stay awake. Elena, I'm gonna get Brenna out first and then I'll get you ok. Brenna, I need you to open your eyes, Brenna!" Brea slowly opened her eyes, responding to him yell her name. "Ok I need you to put your hands on the roof ok," he instructed, Brea nodded and slowly moved her hands onto the roof. "Just like that, you ready? 1, 2, 3" he counted before tearing her seatbelt off and catching her body as she fell. He then pulled her semi-unconscious body out of the car. "Brenna? Can you hear me?" he asked moving the hair out of her face.

"I know you. You're my friend," she whispered before falling unconscious in his arms.


	15. Bloodlines

**New Orleans, 1821**

_"_ _Have either of you two gentlemen seen Rebekah?" Brenna asked Klaus and Elijah as she entered the room._

_"_ _Brenna, love," Klaus smiled. "Perfect timing, I was just about to come and fetch you, I have a surprise for you," Klaus said with a smile to Brenna._

_"_ _Niklaus, this is neither the time nor the place," Elijah warned seriously._

_"_ _Trust me, sweetheart, you'll love it," Klaus smiled, shooting her one of his signature grins._

_Brenna huffed before she relented and nodded. "_ _I can't stay long, I must head home soon, I just wanted to talk to Rebekah about something," Brenna hesitated before giving in, "lead the way Nik." As Brenna walked into the room around the corner, she saw the dead bodies of 3 women, with a man crouched over one of them, attached to her neck and her eyes widened._

_As the man placed one of the girl's bodies on the ground he clapped his hands and cheered, "bravo, that was delectable," before turning around._

_Brenna didn't get a chance to look at his face as she spun with a scream and tried to run, but Klaus was in the way. "Let me go, let me go," Brenna screamed at him._

_"_ _Relax sweetheart, no one here is going to hurt you," Klaus said trying to calm her down._

_"_ _You promised! You promised!" she yelled as she kneed Klaus in the groin and ran. She barely made it into the corridor when this new man appeared in front of her._

_Brenna tried to push past him but he grabbed her "relax darling. It's not like I'm going to hurt you." When she realised she couldn't get past him she threw herself out of his arms and ran the other way but he appeared in front of her again. Brenna covered her face with her hands and stumbled back into the wall crying. "Darling, darling, please," he cooed as he tried to pry her hands from her face, but she kept her eyes closed. "Darling, please look at me. I've missed you so much." Something in Brenna clicked as the voice sounded familiar so she opened her eyes._

* * *

"Ouch," Brea moaned lifting her head up.

"Ah wakey wakey little miss sunshine," Damon cooed. "Your sister's been awake for a while."

"Elena?" Brea groaned.

"Hey, are you ok?" Elena asked as she reached her hand towards the back seat of the car and grabbed Brea's hand. "We had to pull over about 10 minutes ago. I mean I wanted to, but he didn't, but then you started screaming your head off so we had to," she said quickly.

"I need to brush my teeth," Brea moaned, "my mouth tastes gross. Where are we?"

"Yeah, I had to give you a bit of my blood," Damon explained. "You hit your head pretty hard back there, broken collarbone as well, but I didn't want you to yell at me for giving you blood so I didn't. But then you started screaming, kinda freaked me out, so safety first," he smiled.

"Where are we?" Brea tried asking again.

"Georgia," Damon drawled.

"No, we're not."

"Yeah, we are. We are in Georgia. I really didn't think it'd be that confusing for you two," Damon said with an eye roll. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"Like I got in a car accident, oh my god, the car!" Brea gasped.

"I pulled it to the side of the road. No one will bother it. Are you getting a sense of deja vu as well Elena or is it just me? Because I'm pretty sure you and I had this exact same conversation while sleeping beauty was napping back there," he joked but Elena just ignored him.

"Where's my phone?" Brea asked. "Damon?"

"God, you two really are twins, here," he said throwing her phone in the backseat. "What were you dreaming about anyway? I mean you screamed pretty loud."

"Um nothing," she said as she went to check her phone but decided not to. She knew she'd be in big trouble with Jenna for not coming home last night. All of a sudden, Brea started feeling very ill. "Oh god, pull over," she groaned.

"What, we just got back on the road…" Damon protested.

"Now!" Brea screamed and just as Damon pulled over, Brea threw herself out of the back seat and onto the side of the road and started throwing up all of Damon's blood he had given her.

"Brenna!" he yelled, running to her side.

"Brea!" Elena screamed getting out of the car.

"What the hell," Brea panted, feeling faint.

"Brenna, Brenna look at me," Damon said frantically as he grabbed her face before biting his wrist and placing it in her mouth, but before she could swallow the blood she spat it backout of her mouth in a coughing fit. "You need to drink it, Brenna, please," he said.

"I can't, I can't," she said passing out again.

* * *

"You alright there," Damon asked Brea as she woke up.

"Where are we now?" she asked groggily

"A bar."

"We can't get in, we're underage," she mumbled. "Why aren't I walking?" she asked when she noticed she was being carried.

"Well, you kept coming in and out of consciousness so I'm going to ask my witchy friend to give you a nice quick fix. Plus Elena wouldn't screeching stop about it, and I'm worried about you Brenna," he whispered as he carried her into the bar. "Bree!" he called and the witch ran over to him.

"Yeah?" Brea mumbled.

"Not you, other Bree. Hello's will have to wait I'm afraid, I've got a problem. I gave her my blood, it healed her but then she started throwing it all up and she keeps passing out. Something's wrong. Please. Help me. She can't die," he pleaded, worry lacing his voice.

"Fine, put her on a stool," Bree directed, so Damon placed her on a stool letting her rest her head on his arm as Elena held onto her hand. Bree started chanting and performing a spell and Brea started to feel better instantly. "All done, you happy?" she asked Damon. Damon bent down and looked in Brea's eyes before nodding and standing back up. "Now, hello Damon," Brea said smiling and walked over to Damon, grabbing his face and promptly sticking her tongue down his throat, causing Elena to gasp and pull her sister off of Damon's arm and onto her own. "Your blood poisoned that girl," Bree explained after she was finished with Damon. "Don't know why. It's meant to have the opposite effect. But I wouldn't go giving her blood again," she warned and Damon just nodded his head, content after seeing Brea was noticeably feeling better. "Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness. Drink up!" Bree said passing out shots. Damon drank his shot while Elena and Brea just stared at theirs, causing Damon to lean over and pick them up, drinking the shots for the girls.

"Thank you," Brea said with a laugh.

"So, how'd he rope you two in?" Bree asked.

"We're not roped in. Actually, I'm dating his-" Elena started.

"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride."

"Ok," Elena said wanting to change the topic quickly. Elena looked over at Brea and saw her very nervously fidgeting in her seat. Elena, wanting to relax her, leant over and nudged her gently and gave her a smile. "So how did you two meet?" Elena asked, turning back to the witch.

"College," Bree laughed.

"Wait, what?" Brea laughed, "you went to college?" she asked, turning to look at Damon.

"I've been on the college campus, yes," Damon smirked.

"Of course," Brea snorted with a smirk.

"About 20 years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman. I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love," Bree said, smiling at Damon.

"Someone fell in love with you?" Brea snorted. "How is that possible?" she asked before sticking her tongue out at Damon. Damon just laughed at her and flung his arm around her shoulder which made Elena look at them both in concern.

"Well then he told me about his little secret, made me love him even more," Bree continued. "Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

"She's a witch," Damon whispered to the girls.

"Yeah, we got that," Elena smiled.

"Yeah, you know, when she took the poison out of me from your subpar vampire blood," Brea said with a head wobble.

"He changed my world," Bree smirked.

"I rocked your world," Damon returned with a smirk.

"Ew," Brea groaned, throwing Damon's arm off her shoulder. "To much information."

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree asked the twins making their eyebrows shoot up their forehead. "But mostly he's just a walk-away Joe."

"Ok, I need that drink now," Brea said, finally relaxing as she snatched the shot out of Damon's hand and downed it.

"Woah, do you think that's a good idea? You did just nearly die. Twice," Damon emphasised as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"I feel fine Damon, if I'm gonna be listening to urgh, this all day," she said, waving her hand between him and Bree. "I'm gonna need that."

"So, what is it that you want?" Bree finally asked Damon.

Before Damon could answer Elena's phone began ringing. "Oh no," Elena groaned as she pulled out her phone to check it. "It's Jenna, come on Brea we better take this outside," Elena said taking her sister's hand and dragging her outside to talk to Jenna. "Hi, Jenna," Elena greeted cheerily as she answered.

"Hey, Aunt Jenna!" Brea sung, trying to ease the anger she knew her aunt felt.

"We're so sorry," Elena apologised for them.

"Where are you two? Why didn't you call? Why isn't Brea answering her phone?"

"We were tired," Brea lied quickly.

"And we slept at Bonnie's," Elena added. "This morning we just wanted to get to school."

"Are you both ok?" Jenna asked concerned.

"You know, Stefan and stuff," Elena said truthfully.

"She's moping Jenna, trust me, you should be glad you're not witnessing this mess," Brea added for effect.

"Hey," Elena disputed offended.

"Ok, alright, I trust you guys, I'll see you both tonight, you better be here," Jenna said warily before hanging up.

Just as Jenna hung up Elena's phone rang again. "Stefan," she sighed before she hesitantly answered the call. "I'm here," she said. Brea crossed her arms and watched her sister argue with Stefan. After all the drama of the night before Brea didn't really understand what was going on. "You lied," Elena snapped. "So you didn't lie? How are we connected to Katherine and her sister… Brenna, Stefan?" Elena demanded. She scoffed when she clearly didn't like his answer, "and we're both supposed to believe that?"

"Hang up," Brea suggested and Elena did just that.

As the girls turned around to go back inside Damon was standing right there "you ok?" he asked them.

"Don't pretend to care. I know you're gloating inside," Elena said sadly.

"Come on, both of you, inside. We'll get some lunch and you can ask whatever you want."

* * *

"Let's just say that we are descended from Katherine, does that make us part vampire?" Elena asked. "And how can Brea have the same name as um... Brenna. It's not exactly a common name."

"Vampires can't procreate. But we love to try," Damon smirked avoiding the question about Brea. "No, if you are related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned," Damon said giving a straight answer.

"Stefan said that Katherine's sister was human, he said Katherine was an old vampire so they couldn't have been biological sisters. How could she have a human sister who looked just like me and then Elena and I are twins and we look the same as them? It doesn't make sense Damon."

"I don't have any answers for that," he shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't exactly get to know their past that well. They were very secretive. On the run from something, never told me what."

"Why wouldn't they tell you?" Brea asked.

"Not sure," he said as he popped a fry into his mouth. "I love them both but they had a bond that nothing could break. They'd always be whispering in corners."

Brea looked down at her food. It all sounded so familiar to her. "Maybe we descended from Brenna? Could she have been a descendant of Katherine herself that's why they said they were sisters? It's a stretch but it could be why Elena and I look like them."

"Not possible," Damon answered.

"Explain," Brea said looking at him.

"I may not have known a lot, but I did overhear some things. Brenna had some vampire boyfriend I know that much. Don't know who or why he wasn't with her. But I know he existed. And as I just said vampires can't procreate, but I don't think she survived the battle of Willow Creek anyway. The town rounded up the vampires and trapped them underneath the church. Stefan and I died trying to save Katherine. I saw Brenna that night, she was human so she wasn't captured, but I never saw her after that. No one I spoke to had seen her since the battle. She was only human she couldn't have gone far," he explained sadly. "She must've got caught in the crossfire."

"I'm sorry," Elena apologised as she could see he was sad about it.

"I'm not looking forward to explaining to Katherine what happened," he smirked as he took a gulp of his beer.

"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?" Elena asked.

"Kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Agreed," Brea sighed.

"Come on, what? Don't you like pickles? What's wrong with you two?" Damon asked taking the pickles off of the girl's plates as he tried to lighten the somber mood.

"How can you even eat? If technically you're supposed to be…" Elena asked as Brea snorted a laugh.

"Dead," Damon whispered immaturely. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

Elena smiled before it dropped, "this nice act. Is any of it real?" Brea looked up at this as Damon hummed.

"Here you go," Bree said placing another beer down in front of Damon.

"Thank you," Damon said.

"We'll both have one too," Elena said.

"We will?" Brea asked in surprise.

"Time out, remember? For 5 minutes? That 5 minutes is going to need a beer," Elena told the Brea and Damon with a shrug.

Brea smiled, she hadn't seen Elena easy going since their parents accident. "Two beers it is then," she smiled at Bree who started to pour the drinks.

"There you two go," Bree said placing a beer down in front of each girl.

"Hey Damon, look," Brea said as she took a drink, "foam moustache!" she laughed as she made the beer foam stick to her upper lip. Damon smiled as he looked at her before he quickly began frowning. "What?" Brea asked.

"I don't know Brea," he sighed. "You're different than Elena. Elena just looks like Katherine, but they're personalities are completely different. Plus she had curly hair, Elena's is straight. You, well, you and Brenna are the exact same. Same hair, Brenna always loved her waves, same personality, same vocabulary. Everything about you two is the same, the only strange thing is that you're human and so was she. And she would obviously, be long dead by now if she did survive the battle."

Brea hesitated to say something before she took another drink of her beer and told him, "what would you think if I told you I may have, umm, memories, I guess you'd call them, of 1864," Brea asked as Elena's eyebrows nearly left her forehead as Damon's furrowed.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Well, ever since I met you and Stefan I haven't been able to sleep properly. I keep seeing the two of you. And Katherine. At first, I thought it was just some weird twisted dream and I was having Lena play the part of your ex. But, she had curly hair, not like Lena's. And I just. Haha, I probably sound insane," Brea laughed as Damon stared at her shocked. "I shouldn't have said anything," she laughed nervously.

"Brenna," he said taking her hand. "We'll work it out ok."

* * *

"Ready… go!" Bree called as everyone downed their shots on her shout.

"And that's 4!" Brea yelled, hands in the air as Elena won again.

"No silly 3," Elena laughed.

"Haha, Damon, Elena beat you 4…"

"3," Elena interjected.

"3 times!"

"Do you need a bib?" Elena said mocking Damon who was wiping his mouth.

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol like you two seem to be able to do," Damon retorted.

"Whatever. All right. Who's next?" Elena challenged. "Another round Bree?"

"Honey, you two should be on the floor," a random lady next to the twins laughed.

"We are not even drunk," Brea defended.

"Our tolerance is, like, way up here," Elena said pointing to her sister as Brea jumped to mark their high alcohol tolerance only to trip when she landed back on the ground. She let out a little squeak in shock, but Damon had already swooped his arms around her and caught her, preventing her from falling.

"Clumsy, just like Brenna," he muttered. "Maybe you two have had enough?" he suggested.

"Don't be a party pooper Damon. Oh my god, Lena!" Brea giggled standing up out of Damon's arms.

"Yeah?" Elena asked.

"I've just had the best idea!"

"Tell me!" Elena nodded enthusiastically.

"Why don't we race each other?" Brea suggested with a laugh.

"You. Are. A. Genius. Yes!" Elena cheered. Elena quickly took Brea's hand, "let's go," she said.

Elena and Brea went to leave the bar only to have Damon stand in front of them. "Woah, woah, woah, maybe not a good idea.

"Oh," Brea sighed dejectedly. "ANOTHER SHOT!"

"Another shot," Elena agreed turning back to to the bar.

* * *

Elena hit a pool ball into the pocket and both Brea and Elena celebrated. "Brea, I hit the ball in, why are you celebrating?" Elena laughed.

"Noooo, you hit my ball in you silly sausage," Brea laughed poking her sister on the nose before moving to pull the ball out to show her she hit the wrong ball in.

"I did it because you're my favourite sibling and I want you to win, shh, don't tell Jer," Elena said loudly whispering to Brea.

"Aww Elena," Brea cooed as they gave each other a sloppy hug. "You're my favourite sibling today too."

"Today?" Elena asked as she pulled away. Before she could press further, Brea's phone started ringing. "Brea, your phone," Elena giggled.

"I have another great idea, let's go answer it together," Brea suggested, waving it in the air.

"You're so smart," Elena smiled and stoked Brea's hair. The twins giggled before Brea clicked answer hello?"

"Brea?"

"Jenna!" Brea said excitedly. "I've been wanting to talk to you all day bestie!"

"Hold on, it's loud in here," Elena yelled as she yanked Brea out of the bar and put the phone on loudspeaker.

"Brea, Elena, where are you? Are you ok?" Jenna demanded.

"Jenna, I love you, you know. You're my favourite aunt," Brea sung.

"I'm your only aunt," Jenna deadpanned.

"Well then that means you're also my least favourite," Brea said with a gasp. "I'm sorry Jenna. I really don't want you to be my least favourite aunt. I don't mean it, but I have no choice."

"Are you drunk?" Jenna demanded.

"No!" Brea denied in a high pitched voice. "And quite frankly I resent that accusation."

"Jenna, we're sorry. We're good. Everything's fine," Elena apologised. Brea took a step forward and tripped on a piece of railing, she grabbed Elena for support and ended up pulling her down with her. "Brea, what the hell, that hurt," Elena whined before standing up "Jenna?" she said into the phone before someone covered Elena's mouth and grabbed her. Brea went to try to run inside to get Damon, but the mysterious man grabbed Brea with his other arm and dragged the two of them away with ease.

"Stop licking my hand!" the man growled at Brea who immediately stopped. The mystery man dragged them to an empty industrial site around the corner, "stay here," he snarled as he released them. Brea just rolled her eyes and went to walk away when his face vamped out in a warning.

"Oh, so it's that kind of stay here? Yep, got it," she said quickly backing up to stand next to her sister.

"I don't want to hurt you two, just him. So stay here or I will kill you," he ordered before running away. Just as he did, Damon rounded the corner looking for them.

"Damon, no!" Elena screamed. But it was too late, the man was hitting Damon with a metal baseball bat. Brea ignored the man's demands to stay there and ran toward Damon, Elena following quickly behind.

"What the hell," Damon groaned at the man hitting him. The man then whooshed over to grab a keg of gasoline before pouring it over Damon.

"NO!" Brea screamed before the man again warned the fast approaching girls to stay back with his vampire face before he resumed soaking Damon.

"Who are you?" Damon hissed.

"That's perfect. You have no idea," the man snarled.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.

"What did he do to you?" Brea asked.

"He killed my girlfriend," the man answered as the girls looked down. "What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!"

"Nothing," Damon admitted.

"We don't understand," Elena said confused.

"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?" the man explained.

Both girls gasped, "Lexi," Brea whispered.

"Lexi was your girlfriend?" Elena asked him louder. "She told me about you. She said that you were human."

"I was," he said sadly before pulling out a match.

"Lexi turned you?" Elena asked trying to distract him.

"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

"She loved you," Elena rushed out trying to delay the man as he went to light the match. "She said that 'when it's real, you can't walk away'."

"Well, that's a choice you're not going to have to make," he snarled assuming Damon was Elena's boyfriend.

"Don't. Don't, please!" Brea begged.

"Please don't hurt him," Elena urged but the man lit the match anyway.

"I'm doing you both a favour," he stuttered.

"Lexi loved you. And she was good. And that means you're good, too," Elena surmised. "Be better than him. Don't do this. Please, I am begging you."

"Damon's a dick. Don't be a dick too," Brea stuttered through the alcohol haze.

"Please," Elena begged through gritted teeth. The man then picked Damon up and threw him into a wall opposite them as he decided not to kill him. "Thank you," Elena whispered.

"It wasn't for either of you," the man snarled before running off. Brea and Elena then ran to his side helping him up.

"Are you ok?" Brea asked looking him over as he blinked in shock before quickly standing and walking off, the girls looked at each other confused before following him. "Are you sure you're ok?" Brea asked confused by his behaviour.

"Yep," he said looking around. "Why don't you two wait in the car," he said unlocking it, "I'll be back," he said before storming into the bar.

"Can you get my bag?" Brea yelled after him and he threw a thumbs up at her. "Thank you!" Brea turned to Elena to see her staring after Damon in concern and Brea just shrugged her shoulders and got in the car, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

"So why did you bring us with you?" Elena asked Damon.

"Well, neither of you are the worst company in the world Elena," he answered. "You should give you and your sister more credit."

"Seriously?" Elena asked Damon disbelievingly.

"I am so fun," Brea laughed from the backseat. "I give myself plenty of credit," she smiled.

"You were both there in the road. All damsel in distress-like," he said as Brea made a wretching noise at that phrase. "I knew it would piss off Stefan and… the two of you are not the worst company in the world, Elena."

"I used to be more fun," she huffed.

"She did," Brea agreed from the back seat causing Elena to glare at her.

"You did ok," Damon smiled.

"We saved your life," Elena said with a giggle.

"I know."

"And don't you forget it," Elena smirked.

"I won't let you forget it," Brea teased, leaning forward to poke Damon in the arm.

* * *

"Show me the picture," Brea demanded as she and Elena stormed into Stefan's room.

"Hi," Elena said.

"Hi," Stefan said back.

"Am I invisible?" Brea asked.

"Hi, Brea," he said.

"Hi," she greeted back before whispering to Elena, "I thought we were going for the tough guy act."

"You could have told us," Elena snarled.

"I wanted to tell you both."

"You said no more lies. Only the truth. We can handle the truth, Stefan. As crazy as it is, we can handle the fact that you are a vampire. And you have a vampire brother…"

"He's actually quite fun," Brea interrupted.

"And that our best friend is a witch," Elena continued. "We can accept the fact that the world is a much more mysterious place than we ever thought possible. But this- this lie, I cannot take," she said pacing and Brea stepped back knowing she was ready to explode. "What am I to you? Who am I to you?"

"You are not Katherine."

"Duh," Brenna snapped at Stefan.

"You are the opposite of everything that she was."

"And when did you figure that out?" Elena demanded. "Before you kissed me? Before we slept together?"

"Ok, maybe I should leave," Brea said trying to run away but Elena snatched her arm stopping her from leaving.

"Before I met you," Stefan admitted.

"Huh?" Brea asked confused.

"What?" Elena asked just as confused.

"The first day of school. When I met you two. It wasn't for the first time."

"Then when was it?" Elena asked.

"May 23, 2009."

"What!" Brea gasped as Elena's face dropped.

"That was the day your parent's car went off the bridge," he confirmed.

"You were there?" Elena asked angrily.

"Every couple of years I come back here to see Zach and see my home. Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge. And I heard the accident. All of it," Elena and Brea were well and truly tearing up now and holding each other's hands. "I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged. Your dad- he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you both," he said as the tears began spilling uncontrollably from Brea's eyes.

"Oh my god," Elena cried. "When we woke up in the hospital no one could figure out how we both got out of the car. They said it was a miracle."

"I went back for them. But it was too late. I couldn't… I couldn't save them. When I pulled the two of you out, I looked at your faces. You looked like Katherine and Brenna. I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't them. I watched you both. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine and you…" he said freezing as he looked at Brea.

"I'm exactly like Brenna," Brea finished with a shaky voice.

"I wanted to leave town, Elena, but I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you two. I wanted to, but you were both so sad."

"Why do we look like them?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Elena, Brenna, you've been through so much."

"Why do we look like them, Stefan? What are you not telling us?" Brea said stepping forward annoyed.

"It didn't make any sense to me. You're Gilbert's. They were Pierce's. But the resemblance was too much. And then I learned the truth. You were adopted."

"No," Brea hissed and Stefan stepped forward to comfort her. "No!" she yelled pushing him away and storming out of the room.

"You ok?" Damon asked as she ran passed him.

"Just peachy," she said pushing past him.

"Woah hang on a minute there," he said before being quiet for a minute.

"What!" she snapped.

"It was your birth certificate," he said.

"Huh?"

"They say Brenna and Elena Gilbert. Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant. I'm listening," he said tapping his ear and pointing upstairs.

"What are you talking about?"

"Stefan's explaining how he knows to your sister. Thought you might want to know."

"Does he know anything else?" Brea asked crying openly again.

Damon shook his head. "He says for him to know more he'd have to look into the Pierce family, and that was too risky to do. Ugh no, it's getting mushy," Damon groaned in reference to Elena and Stefan's conversation.

"Damon, tell me the truth, please. Do you think that I'm her, the Brenna you knew, do you think we're one and the same?" Brea whispered

Damon hesitated, "yes, I think so," he said quietly. "Here," he said holding out a small portrait. "That's Brenna Pierce," he said as Brea's breath hitched in her throat as she looked at it.

"I... I..." she stuttered looking from the picture to him and back. Brea took a deep breath and straightened up, "good day Mr Salvatore," she said, handing him the picture back before racing out the front door waiting for Elena in the car.

* * *

As Elena and Brea entered the house Jenna jumped out of her seat furious. "I don't set a lot of rules. Especially not for you two. I trust you two to tell me the truth."

"That's rich," Brea scoffed heading towards the stairs.

"Excuse me! Where were you? Why were you out drunk on a school night? Why did you lie to me about it? I thought that we were closer than that."

This made both Brea and Elena stop in their tracks and turn to Jenna. "Now is not the time you want to talk to us about lies," Elena snapped before walking to the stairs with Brea.

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything," Jenna defended.

"I can't do it, Lena," Brea said glaring at Jenna allowing her twin to explain their rage.

"Question- are we adopted?" Elena asked snarkily, as Jenna's face dropped in shock.

"We trust you to tell us the truth too Jenna," Brea hissed.

"How could you not tell us? I thought we were closer than that," Elena sassed before storming upstairs.

"Elena, Brea, I didn't- they asked me not to," Jenna tried to explain.

"We don't want to hear it," Brea yelled as she and Elena entered Brea's room, slamming the door behind them before collapsing on the same bed and crying.


	16. Unpleasantville

"I'm bored."

"I don't care," Jeremy replied.

"I'll play a video game with you?" Brea offered.

"I'm busy Brea."

"But I'm bored!" Brea groaned.

"Oh well, don't care," Jeremy dismissed

"Jeremy pleaseeeee," Brea whined as she poked his arm.

"I'm drawing, go away," he said as the doorbell rang.

"Pizza!" Brea cheered excitedly. "So who's the girl you're drawing?" she asked, grabbing Jeremy's hand and dragging him to the door with her.

"Shut up," he laughed as he opened the door and as he did, Brea's smile instantly dropped as she found the pizza man very familiar.

"Hey. That's going to be $22," the delivery man said with a smile.

Jeremy and Brea looked at each other before yelling together up the stairs, "Elena we need the money!"

"Have you delivered pizza's here before?" Brea asked.

"Uh, here come in. Just put it on the table," Jeremy said to the guy.

"No, I haven't," the pizza guy answered her with a smirk as he stepped in the house.

"Hey," Elena said running down the stairs as Brea kept staring at the guy. "Um keep the change."

"Thanks and you have yourself a good night," he said backing out of the house as Elena closed the door.

"Seriously you two?" Elena sighed at Brea and Jeremy. "Why can't either of you pay for once?" Both siblings just shrugged before running away with their pizza.

* * *

Brea's phone buzzed with a text from Jeremy.

J - Our future uncle gave me an A on the essay!

B - Jer, that's awesome! He's in our good books, woohoo!

"Brea put the phone down," Elena ordered.

"I can't believe you're both adopted. I never saw that coming," Bonnie said in disbelief.

"And it gets weirder," Elena continued. "Our birth certificate lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as our birth parents."

"Even though they weren't, none of it makes any sense," Brea muttered.

"Which is why you should ask Jenna. First of all, the Gilbert twins I know would always want the real truth, good or bad." Bonnie suggested.

"And second of all?" Elena dismissed.

"You just found out that your boyfriend is a vampire Elena, so unless your birthparents are aliens… how bad could it be?" Bonnie said making the twins laugh.

"Knowing our luck they're probably werewolves or something crazy like that," Brea giggled.

"Ah, ok, look, we have to go to the store. Both of our outfits are severely lacking accessories," Elena said standing up.

"I thought mine was fine?" Brea asked and Elena just shook her head.

"Ok, I'll pay the bill," Bonnie said and the twins walked out.

Just as the twins were crossing the road to the car Jenna was loaning them Brea's phone rang. "Hello?"

"Speakerphone, now," a voice ordered.

"Why?" she asked.

"I want you both to hear this."

"Ok bossy, so rude," Brea snapped switching it to speaker mode making Elena give her a funny look.

"Hello, Elena, Brenna," the man said.

"Hey, who's this?" Elena said stopping and turning around.

"You two hit me with your car. Is that a new one?" At this Brea nearly dropped the phone in shock spinning around to try to find him before spotting a man walking and pointing him out to Elena. "You got away from me," he taunted as the girls rushed to get into the car. "You won't next time," he laughed as the girls drove off and Brea hung up.

* * *

"Why us, what does he want with us?" Brea groaned.

"If he's trying to kill us, then why call first?" Elena asked confused.

"That's because we're predators," Stefan explained. "We hunt, we stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill."

"Gross," Brea groaned.

"I want you both to have this," Stefan said handing Elena something.

"This is Jeremy's pocket watch," Elena said confused.

"What!" Brea said angrily snatching it from her sister. "Seriously Stefan, this means a lot to him, why would you steal it? You can't come into our house as a guest and take our stuff," she said fuming.

"I didn't," he quickly defended. "I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must've taken it from Jeremy."

"Oh," Brea said handing it back to Elena. "Sorry," she muttered.

"What happened to it?" Elena asked looking at it making Brea snatch it back.

"What did you do to his watch, Stefan!" Brea exclaimed as she saw it had been completely changed.

"It's not just a watch. It was modified, I'm guessing by Logan. It's a sort of compass. But it points to vampires."

Brea looked down at the watch as saw it pointing to Stefan, "right, not you, sorry again," she mumbled embarrassed handing it back to Elena.

"Why did our father have it?" Elena asked.

"Gilbert's were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?" Elena asked uncomfortably.

"Yes," he nodded. "I want you two to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger," Stefan said before kissing Elena,

"Ew, ew, ew. I'll meet you in the car," Brea said covering her eyes and running outside.

* * *

"Spoke to the insurance company," Jenna said as the girls walked in the door. "Car's totalled."

"I could've told you that Jenna," Brea laughed. "It rolled like 3 times. Oh right, yeah, I'm mad at you," she said in realisation turning back around.

"You can keep using mine for now," Jenna said trying to be helpful.

"So you're coming to the dance?" Elena asked making small talk.

"Alaric asked me to help chaperone."

"Why didn't you tell us, Jenna?" Elena asked spinning around angrily.

"Your mom was gonna do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to."

"If our mom were here right now and we asked, she'd tell us the truth," Brea said quietly with a small smile at Jenna.

"Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her babies, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared. And there you both were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. It just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."

"Well, why were our parents' names on the birth certificates?" Elena questioned.

"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it. They didn't want to lose either of you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."

"What else do you know about her?" Brea asked curiously.

"The girl," Elena elaborated.

"Just her name, Isobel."

* * *

"You don't need to straighten your hair anymore Lena! Your hair is straight anyway, you're being ridiculous. Can we go already?" Brea asked following Elena into the bathroom.

"I'm not straightening it. I'm blowdrying it, be patient."

"I want to go take pictures of Jeremy working at the punch bowl for my scrapbook of him, you know before he gets kicked out for being a moody grouch."

"You're making a scrapbook of our brother?" Elena asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of his embarrassing moments, yeah," Brea shrugged.

"Can I see?" Elena smiled.

"When it's done, when it's done," Brea smirked, following Elena into her room again. "I like this scarf," she said pointing out an option for her sister. "Did you hear that?" Brea asked turning around as she heard a noise.

Elena left the room calling Jenna and Jeremy to see if they were in the house. "No one else is home, must've been the wind," Elena called out to her. Not a moment after, Brea heard the whirring noise again and looked around the room to see what it could be.

"Compass," Brea gasped, realising the noise was coming from the compass. "Elena!" she yelled and raced across the room to the bed where the compass was sitting. "What the hell, Elena my ring, it's... it's glowing," Brea gasped noticing it was glowing a bright purple, "call Stefan now."

Elena quickly dialled on her cell as the twins ran down the stairs.

"Where is he?" Elena asked, clearly talking to Damon. "Oh thank god," she breathed in relief. "This compass was spinning. Stefan must be here. Thank you." Elena sighed before hanging up. "Nothing to worry ab…" she said stopping as she noticed a man on the ceiling above Brea. "Brea watch out!" she screamed as the man dropped down from his spot and grabbed Brea and tried to bite her. Brea yelled out in fright and quickly flung her hand back so her ring hit the intruders face, making him hiss as his face burned from the vervain on the ring. Brea took his moment of distraction to fling herself backwards out of his grasp as quickly as she could, and she fell to the side.

The man then turned on Elena and tried to attack her, but Stefan arrived screaming "Elena!" and threw the man away from her. "Are you ok?" he asked picking her up off the floor.

Brea, still on the floor, shoved her hand into her pocket, pulled out her phone and dialled Damon's number. "Hello, two Gilbert calls in two minutes. Must be my lucky day."

"The man we hit with the car, he just attacked us," she stuttered.

"Where are you?" he asked seriously.

"At home."

"I'm coming," he said hanging up. As Brea went to put the phone back in her pocket she noticed her rings colour starting to fade back to normal. Not long after Damon came racing through the door before coming to a stop next to Brea. "Why are you on the floor?" he asked her.

"Well, I fell here when I got away from him and I'm grumpy," she scowled.

"Why?"

"He hurt me."

"Where?" Damon asked with wide eyes, gently pulling her off the floor.

"He bruised my elbow, duh," she scoffed.

"Hilarious," Damon said, rolling his eyes and walking away. "How'd he get in?" Damon asked everyone.

"He was invited in," Elena explained.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night," Stefan explained.

"I don't know why Jer felt the need to invite the pizza guy in," Brea muttered as she took a seat.

"Well, he gets points for that," Damon said impressed. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. He was too busy trying to kill us," Elena scoffed in disbelief.

"I think what he wants is to kill us, Damon," Brea answered. "Kind of easy to infer."

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked Damon.

"No. Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

"I do, I think I know him," Brea spoke up and everyone looked at her. "I don't know how, this is going to sound completely crazy... but I think his name is Noah."

"And you have no idea how you know his name?" Damon asked.

"None. I just have a feeling."

"Do you think there's more than one?" Elena asked.

"We don't know," Damon said.

"Damon, he was invited in," Stefan said seriously.

"Then we go get him tonight. You two up for it?" Damon asked.

"What do we have to do?" Elena asked as Brea nodded.

"Let Stefan take you to the dance. I'll go with Brea," Damon suggested.

"No can do. I'm going with Tyler," Brea explained.

"I don't see him," Damon said looking around with a smirk.

"I'm meeting him there."

"Great, I'll take you there and we'll see who shows up to kill you two hmm?"

"That's a bad idea," Stefan disagreed.

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it," he said seriously, suggesting that Jenna and Jeremy would be in danger here as well. "It's worth a shot."

"We'll do it," Brea agreed.

"We'll be with the two of you. We'll both be safe," Elena reassured Stefan. "Stefan, do you know anything about Brea's ring? It was glowing right before he attacked us and it's glowed before. I noticed it glowing when Vicki was attacking us, and I saw it glowing before the car crashed.

"Glowing?" Stefan asked confused with furrowed brows. "We'll figure it out later. I think it's more important we figure out tonight first," he said as everyone nodded.

* * *

"There you are…" Tyler said trailing off as he saw Brea, Elena, Stefan and Damon get out of the same car. "Brought quite the entourage huh?" he asked with a laugh.

"I'm her date," Damon said throwing his arm around Brea's shoulder.

"Get off," Brea laughed, removing his arm. "He's not, so don't think you're getting out of this Lockwood. Bye Damon," she said before grabbing Tyler's arm and walking off.

"Why'd you come with Salvatore?" Tyler asked her.

"Urgh, he wanted to come. Wouldn't leave me alone. Said he'd be my date since I didn't have one."

"Did you tell him we were going together," Tyler laughed.

"She did," Damon spoke from behind them as he could up and took Brea's hand. "But I didn't see a date knocking on the door."

"Knock it off, stop causing trouble," Brea laughed bumping Damon's side. "Why did you follow, Damon?"

"Well, I can't really protect you from this vampire guy if I can't be near you now can I?" Damon whispered in her ear and she rolled her eyes. "Not to worry kid," Damon said slapping Tyler's shoulder, "just need to make sure I don't get kicked out at the door, and for that, I need a high schooler date," he said winking at Brea.

"You're insufferable. Fine, but just to the door Damon. Ty promised me a full night of fun to make up for some recent poor judgment," Brea said taking Damon's arm as Tyler sulked behind them.

* * *

"Ok Damon, we snuck you in," Brea said as they walked through the doors. "Now go find Stefan and Elena, just keep an eye out," she said under her breath knowing he could hear her.

"So wanna dance?" Tyler asked and Brea gave him a look. "Sorry, would you like to dance with me, my lady?"

"Much better, and yes I would love to dance with you Mr Lockwood, thank you for asking," Brea said dragging him onto the dance floor. "Hey Care," Brea said as they passed Caroline, "having fun?"

"No."

"Ok, wasn't expecting that," Brea groaned. "Hold up," she said to Tyler and turned back around to Caroline. "What's up?"

"This," Caroline said gesturing to her outfit, "took 2 hours, so I'm staying at least half that. Damon's here and he probably brought some tramp as his date."

"I came with Damon..." Brea said with a frown.

"What!" Caroline exclaimed in anger.

"Umm, Ty?" Brea said, tugging his arm.

"We should probably go, we haven't said hi to many people," he said quickly.

"Yep, see ya, Caroline," Brea waved as the pair ran away.

"That was awkward," Tyler ranted.

"Yeah, if we let her go further into her rant, we'd be here another 2 hours," Brea said as the pair laughed and danced. "Hey Ty, do me a favour and dance us towards the punch bowl," Brea said spotting Jeremy.

"Why?"

"I need a photo of Jeremy working. It's for a secret project."

"Ok," Tyler agreed confused but danced the pair towards the punch bowl.

As they got close enough Brea took out her phone and took a picture of Jeremy handing someone a cup of punch. As Brea took the picture Jeremy spotted her and his face dropped as he realised what she was doing. "Abort Ty! Abort!"

"What?" he asked confused.

"Spin us away, fast." Tyler shrugged his shoulder and lead the pair to the other side of the room. After a while, Brea's phone buzzed with a text.

J - 1. You are in trouble for taking a picture of me. 2. Why are girls so weird?

B - 1. Gotcha sucker! 2. Is this the girl you were drawing? I'm interested, tell me about it tonight

"How much longer till I'm back in your good books Brea?" Tyler asked.

"Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On how much you're willing to do to prove your undying loyalty to me," she joke and Tyler's eyes widened and he chose to stay quiet.

* * *

"Hey, Brea, umm you're ring is kinda glowing," Tyler said confused pointing to her hand as they stopped for a drink.

"Why' does it keep doing that?" Brea groaned confused while she tapped her ring, trying to see if it had an off button.

"Brea!" Elena yelled running up to her.

"Hey Elena," Tyler said.

"Brea," she said out of breath. "We have to go find Damon, now!"

"Sorry Elena, she can't, she's stuck with me tonight," Tyler said putting an arm around Brea as she laughed.

"Brea, it's happening" Elena pleaded and Brea's eyes widened as she realised the strange vampire must be here.

"Maybe it means I'm in danger?" Brea asked showing her ring to Elena who shrugged. "Tyler I have to go. You can go home I forgive you. Bye," Brea said sprinting away from him with Elena hot on her heels. "Where is Damon!" she groaned looking around the packed gym. As the girls weaved through the crowd, Brea's phone rang. "Hello?" she answered not looking at the caller ID.

"Hello, Brenna."

"Noah?" she guessed.

"How do you know my name?" he growled.

"You're being dumb Noah, you know the rules," she said, the words flying out of her mouth even though she didn't know what they meant. Brea squeezed Elena's hand grabbing her twins attention.

"She's not here to protect you anymore. Here's what you're going to do. There's an exit door behind you two girls. You have 5 seconds."

"No," Brea snapped. "Not going to happen. If you hurt me, they'll come for you."

"Who? The Salvatore's?" he scoffed.

"Among others," Brea replied nervously.

"Go to the exit now or your brother dies." Brea spun around like lightning to see Noah standing near Jeremy, she quickly pointed out the situation to Elena whose eyes widened. "I can snap his neck so fast I bet there's not even a witness. Now start walking."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my brother," Brea said backing up towards the door.

"Keep walking. Through the door," he encouraged as the girls stepped further back before Brea hung up and ran pulling Elena with her.

"What are we doing?" Elena yelled.

"I don't know Elena, just delay him until the guys get here to help, just run for now!" Brea yelled as they ran through the corridors. The girls tried to push through some doors but found them to be chained shut. They spun around to see Noah advancing on them and ran through some other doors into the cafeteria. In the cafeteria, they tried some more doors but they were also chained shut. As they spun around Noah barged through the doors and then zipped in front of them. The girls then tried to split and run in different directions but he grabbed them both by the hair as they screamed in pain and threw them, one by one, over a table. He then growled and flipped the table over as he advanced on the girls while they attempted to crawl away.

Noah grabbed Brea aggressively, throwing her up against the wall transforming his face into that of a vampire's before lunging for her neck. Before he could bite her, Elena stabbed his side with a pencil she picked up off the floor making him release his grip on Brea. Elena then stabbed him in the hand with another pencil as he reached out towards her. Elena charged at him stabbing him in the chest with a third pencil before grabbing Brea's hand running backwards, backing into a mop. Brea ripped the mop out of the bucket and threw it to her sister who caught it and snapped it over her knee before thrusting it at his chest, but Noah caught it and threw Elena to the ground with a smirk. He then grabbed Brea causing both girls to scream. He had just bit into her neck when Stefan ripped him off of her, throwing him across the room. Elena immediately ran to Brea and clung to her, pressing a hand to her neck to try to stop the bleeding.

"Hey, dickhead!" Damon called. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk." Noah then set his sights on the huddled up girls and made one last effort to charge at them. Damon threw the stake Elena made out of the mop across the room to Stefan, who intercepted Noah and stabbed him in the chest with it, crippling him.

"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked circling him.

"Screw you," Noah muttered as Stefan punched the stake further into his chest.

"Wrong answer, why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun," Noah groaned, Stefan then pushed the stake further into his chest.

"What do you want with Elena and Brenna?"

"She looks like Katherine," he said gesturing to Elena. "And she is Brenna," he said with a smirk. "I don't know how it's possible, but it's her."

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked.

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones?" he scoffed. "You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?" Damon demanded.

"No?" Stefan asked when Noah refused to talk. He gave him one last moment to say something before he shrugged and stabbed the stake even further into his chest. "The grimoire."

"Where is it?" Damon hissed.

Noah refused to answer so Stefan pushed the stake right to the edge of his heart. "Check the journal. The journal. Use Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's," Noah said quickly in desperation.

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked.

"Who else is there?" Damon yelled.

"No. You're gonna have to kill me." Stefan then removed the stake before plunging it into his heart.

"What do we- how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked gasping in shock.

"He had to die," Damon said while walking over to Brea and moving Elena's hand away so he could get a good look at her neck.

"But…" Elena protested as she stood up and walked over to Stefan.

"Elena, he's been invited in," Stefan confirmed. The group then heard a clunk noise from outside the cafeteria and noticed someone walking past the doors. "Go. I got this," Stefan said. "Take Brea, she's uh…" Stefan said gesturing to her bleeding neck.

Damon nodded and put his arm around Brea, picking her up and running her out of the cafeteria. As Damon and Brea rounded the corner Damon saw Mr Saltzman walking, Damon leaned Brea against the lockers before zipping in front of her teacher. "Hey," Mr Saltzman said in confusion.

"What were you doing?" Damon asked.

"Looking for Ms Hilden," Mr Saltzman answered under compulsion.

"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"

"I got a job as a teacher."

"Do you know what I am?"

"You're my student's brother."

"Is everything you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Damon, leave him alone," Brea hissed sliding down the lockers a bit.

"Then forget we had this conversation," Damon said before picking Brea back up and running off.

* * *

"Put a towel on that," Damon said inspecting her bite after gently lowering her onto the couch. "I'm a bit nervous to give you my blood again after your last episode with that. It doesn't look like he bit too deeply though so it should heal up alright and stop bleeding soon. Just get some rest and pop a bandage on it," he instructed with a smile.

"Thank you," Brea smiled. "For helping me, and for helping protect us, I know you didn't have to do that."

"You're my friend," he said brushing her hair out of her face. "Of course I'd help you. I have to go," he said sadly. "I have a vampire body to help my brother dispose of. Elena should be home soon," he said before walking out of her house, leaving her alone.

* * *

"You'll never guess who just asked me on a date!" Jenna sang as she walked through the door. "OH MY GOD," she screamed. "Brea. What happened?" she asked running at her seeing the bloodstains on her body and clothes. "What happened to your neck!" she gasped as she pulled the bandage aside slightly to see the wound underneath.

"Tyler bit me."

"Brenna I am serious," she said putting pressure on her niece's neck. "I mean it does look like a bite mark. But come on, no one would bite you on the neck. You would've killed them if they tried," she smiled, trying to make a joke.

"They did die," Brea shrugged.

"Come on, Brea, seriously. Tell me what happened."

"It's hard to explain."

"Try me."

"I tripped. In the parking lot and skidded on my… neck," Brea poorly made up. "No one saw thank god. It was seriously embarrassing."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry," Jenna said as she put the bandage back down on her neck.

"Thanks, so Mr Saltzman asked you on a date huh?" Brea asked as Jenna handed her some water and painkillers.

"Yes, he did! Friday night. You can help me get ready," she said with a giggle before going serious. "But for now, bed! Move it. That wound is going to need a lot of rest to heal up properly," Jenna said ushering Brea towards the stairs.


	17. Children of the Damned

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

_"_ _Well don't you look messy sister," Brenna said as Katherine walked into her room and saw her covered in blood._

_"_ _I was giving Damon a lesson on the ways of vampirism. He's just begging me to turn him," Katherine giggled._

_"_ _Please Katerina, I wish you wouldn't string him along," before Brenna knew it Katherine ran at her covering her mouth._

_"_ _Careful sister, you never know who is listening in," Katherine whispered as they both heard footsteps running away. "Please Brenna, you can't use my real name, you know the danger that'll put me in."_

_"It's just a human, you know that vampire's run more gracefully," Brenna reassured. "Don't string them along, Katherine, both of them."_

* * *

"JENNA!" Brea yelled down the stairs to her aunt. "Jeremy stole one of my shoes."

"She stole my toothbrush," Jeremy yelled down from the other side of the stairs.

Jenna groaned before looking up to stare at them disapprovingly from the bottom of the stairs. "God I wish, Elena was here. You're both too scared of her to do this when she's here. You, drop the toothbrush and, you, drop the shoe. On the count of three. One, two, three," both Jeremy and Brea dropped each other's stuff and dived on them, smacking heads on the way down.

"OW!" They both exclaimed as they stood up rubbing their heads. Brea scowled and stumbled into her room feeling ill. Brea laid on her bed and closed her eyes as she became consumed by a distant memory.

**1864**

_Someone knocked on Brenna's door. "Yes," she responded._

_"_ _Miss Brenna, excuse me," Emily said from her doorway. "Miss Pearl has asked to see both you and your sister."_

_"_ _Have you informed Katherine yet?" Brenna asked turning to look at Emily from her dressing table._

_"_ _I have, but she was um, preoccupied at the time, so she may be a while."_

_"_ _Very well, please tell Miss Pearl that I will be down in just a moment. That'll be all Emily thank you," Brenna said with a smile turning back to her mirror. She grabbed her ring from the table and slipped it on before sighing, standing up and heading downstairs._

_"_ _Hello Brenna," Pearl greeted as Brenna came down the stairs._

_"_ _Hello Pearl, how very nice to see you this fine morning. I see my sister is not yet down."_

_"_ _No, she is too busy causing trouble with the Salvatore boys," Pearl said, shaking her head in disapproval._

_"_ _Yes… well, she should be down in a moment," Brenna smiled awkwardly._

_"_ _Good to see you Pearl," Katherine said as she descended the stairs._

_"_ _Perhaps we could talk outside," Pearl requested._

_"_ _Emily, would you please tell Mr Salvatore that I've stepped away?" Katherine asked sweetly._

_"_ _Which one?" Emily asked spitefully._

_"_ _Both," Katherine replied as Brenna and Pearl huffed in irritation before making their way outside._

_"_ _How long do you two plan on staying with the Salvatores?" Pearl asked as they walked on the grass. "People talk, Katherine."_

_"_ _With good reason," Brenna agreed._

_"_ _You, carrying on with both brothers, doesn't help the situation," Pearl lectured_

_"_ _The Salvatore's have been kind to take us in. As far as everyone here knows, we're just two poor orphan girls from Atlanta who lost our family in the fires, or at least one of us did," Katherine said with a side glance at a stiff Brenna._

_"_ _A match you lit, no doubt," Pearl all but accused._

_"_ _No Pearl, I wouldn't do that to dear Brenna here," Katherine said seriously, you know how seriously Brenna cares for each of her families._

_"_ _Honey please be careful," Pearl called out as Katherine and Brenna turned around to see Annabelle patting a horse. "Honoria Fell came by the apothecary yesterday, with a case of this elixir. She asked that it be sold at a reduced rate."_

_"_ _I don't follow," Katherine sighed, failing to see why this should concern her._

_"_ _Try it," Pearl said handing it to Brenna._

_Brenna tipped the vile onto her palm allowing a little of the liquid to hit her hand before handing it to Katherine. "I'm confused Pearl, what is it?" she asked as Katherine hissed in pain._

_"_ _What in hell?" she growled as Brenna grabbed her sisters hand confused._

_"_ _Vervain," Pearl confirmed._

_"_ _Why is there… they know. You should keep this," Katherine said handing the vial to Brenna. "I don't trust some of the others," she explained quickly._

_"_ _They're trying to find us and they're getting crafty about it."_

_"_ _The townspeople ingesting vervain. Well, that's inconvenient," Katherine growled._

_"_ _It might be time for us to move on again," Pearl suggested._

_"_ _No," Katherine immediately refused, "I like it here. I'm not interested in leaving just yet."_

_"_ _Can we go, mamma?" Annabelle asked running towards the three women. "Is something wrong?" she asked as she sensed the tense atmosphere._

"Dude why are you asleep?" Jeremy called from the doorway pulling Brea out of her memory.

"I'm not. I'm just lying down," she groaned, sitting up groggily.

"Wanna play a video game?" he asked.

"Yeah why not," Brea shrugged, following Jeremy downstairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jeremy laughed before reaching out and giving Brea's shoulder a shove. "Hey! What was that for?" she moaned as she stumbled.

"For fun," he teased as he ran towards the kitchen with Brea chasing after him. As he entered the kitchen he abruptly stopped causing Brea to slam into his back and Jeremy stuck his arms around his back to steady his sister. "What are you guys doing?" Jeremy asked Elena and Stefan walking into the kitchen trying to act casual.

"Hey. Just going through some stuff, feeling sentimental. Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up. What are you two up to?" Elena asked.

"Nothing suspicious," Brea said quickly, "Is that Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" she asked, trying to change the subject before Elena got the chance to question her.

"Yeah, what do you guys know about it?" Elena asked the pair.

"I just did a history report on it," Jeremy answered.

"Oh. So where is it now?" Elena asked him.

"I gave it to Mr Saltzman. He wanted to see it."

"We're trying to butter up our future uncle, dude's a history buff," Brea explained as Elena and Stefan shared serious glances.

"Jenna needs our help in that department, she picks bad guys, that's why Brea and I are here to deliver only top-quality men to our hot-to-trot aunt" Jeremy joked as he held his hand up for a high five from Brea, who quickly obliged. Before anyone could say anything else, Stefan excused himself and ran out.

"Maybe he's jealous he wasn't considered in the running to be Jenna's new boyfriend?" Brea suggested as she and Jeremy ran into the living room.

* * *

After a while of playing video games with Jeremy, the doorbell rang. "Jenna!" Brea called.

"You get it," Jenna scoffed from right behind them and both Jeremy and Brea jumped in fright.

"Wow, didn't know you were there Aunt Jenna," Jeremy said as Brea paused the game, got up and went to the door.

"You," Brea said in surprise when she saw Damon at the door.

"You," he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Meeting you, Stefan and Elena, duh," he answered, entering the house.

"Why me?" Brea asked confused causing him to stop and turn around.

"You don't know," he guessed.

"Know what?"

"Brea! Hurry up! I'll start without you," Jeremy yelled.

"We'll talk about it later," Damon smirked before walking off into the kitchen.

"Brea!" Jeremy called again.

"Coming," she called back whilst getting her phone from her pocket texting Elena.

B - What the hell is going on with you two and Damon?

E - What do you mean?

B - He's at our house wanting to meet with you, Stefan and me? And I have no clue what he's talking about. What is going on?

E - I'll explain later I'm coming downstairs.

Brea then pocketed her phone and went back to the couch with Jeremy.

"Hey Brea, guess what?" Jenna called from the kitchen with Damon.

"Yeah?"

"We were just talking about snooty Fell's," Jenna laughed.

"They're not all snooty Jenna," Brea said with an eye-roll.

"Brea here dated a Fell," Jenna explained to Damon.

"Oh, really Brenna, is that so?" Damon smiled teasingly.

"Yeah, and he was not snooty. Ok maybe a little snooty, but he wasn't that bad compared to the other Fell's," she responded as Damon went back to chopping vegetables.

"Hello Elena," Damon greeted Elena before she rounded the corner.

"I'm done Jer, sign me off," Brea said putting her remote down wanting to confront her sister about what was going on behind her back.

"Why? It's better with two players," he moaned.

"I have to talk to Elena."

"What about?"

"Our diabolical plan."

"Which is…"

"To get Jenna to kick you out of your room and make you sleep on the couch so that we can use your room as a wardrobe, duh," Brea quipped before walking away.

"You're-you're not serious are you?" Jeremy called after her in concern.

"Where'd Jenna go?" Brea asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Went to call Mr Saltzman," Elena replied.

"Ok, now, what the hell is going on and why am I not a part of it?" Brea demanded.

"Elena and Stefan and now, you, are helping me open the tomb and get Katherine out," Damon answered as he placed salt on the table, making Brea's eyes widen in shock and he then went to walk back into the kitchen. "Whoa," he exclaimed after purposely walking into Elena.

"Don't do that," she smiled walking to place the plates on the table.

"Do what?" he asked mockingly.

"You know what. That move was deliberate."

"Well, yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink. Speaking of Stefan where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely. You alright, Brea?" he asked, noticing her face still looked shocked.

"You're getting Katherine out?" she asked for confirmation and Damon nodded with a smile, making a wider smile appear on Brea's face and Elena frowned in concern after seeing it.

"Is it real?" Damon asked Elena.

"Is what real?"

"This renewed sense of brotherhood. Can I trust him?"

"Yes, you can trust him," Elena reassured.

"This is fantastic," Brea said still smiling, "we're getting Katherine out, wow!" she exclaimed in shock as Damon zipped up behind Elena quickly causing her to slowly turn around.

"Can I trust him?" Damon asked up close and personal with Elena.

"I'm wearing vervain, Damon. It's not going to work."

"I'm not compelling you," Damon confessed. "I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

"Of course you can," Elena confirmed. Brea narrowed her eyes at this, she knew when her sister was lying. Brea wanted to know how real these visions of hers are, and the only person who might know was Katherine, so she needed to get her out of the tomb.

"I want to trust him. There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone," Damon admitted.

"Trust breeds trust," Elena preached. "You have to give it to get it."

"Are you lecturing me?" Damon asked.

"She's really good at it, try living with her, it's a nightmare," Brea said nudging Damon's arm with a smile.

"Do you need to be lectured?" Elena asked sassily.

"I just want her back," Damon admitted sadly. "I'm sure you can understand that."

"I can understand that you would do anything for her, yes," Elena partially agreed.

"Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way," Damon warned Elena before joining Jeremy on the couch to play a video game.

"What are you up to Elena?" Brea asked quietly.

"Nothing," Elena said with a shrug of her shoulders quickly looking away.

Jenna then sauntered into the room and walked up to the twins, "he's ridiculously hot," she whispered as Brea snorted and Elena hushed her.

"He's an ass," Elena whispered back knowing Damon could hear her.

"What are you doing with all this stuff?" Jenna asked pointing to the Gilbert artefacts that Elena had dragged out.

"I thought there might be something about our birth parents." This made Brea even more suspicious; if Elena was really looking for information about their parents in the box of their's dads family heirlooms, surely she would've told her.

"Have you guys told Jeremy?" Jenna asked.

"No," Brea groaned. "How do you tell someone who's been your brother your whole life that all of a sudden you're not actually related," Brea said looking over at Jeremy sadly.

"We'll tell him... when the time is right," Elena promised. The doorbell then rang. "That's Stefan," Elena said as Damon jumped up running to the door.

"Dude," Jeremy called out after him.

"Did you just call Damon dude?" Brea laughed sitting down next to Jeremy and continuing the game in Damon's absence.

"So…" Damon said barging back into the room closely followed by Elena and Stefan. "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day," Damon asked Jeremy. "Who else did you show it to?" Damon asked. Brea's character in the game died because she stopped concentrating and was focusing on the three people hovering over her brother.

"Huh?" he asked not paying attention.

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked snickering.

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena asked.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Who else did you tell?" Elena pushed.

"Just that girl Anna."

"The hot weird one?"

"The one you drew?" Brea asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

"What, who's Anna?" Stefan asked.

"That's what I want to find out," Damon responded. "How do you know her?"

"I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive, come on," Damon said.

"Do I get to meet her?" Brea asked shaking her brother's arm.

"Ok, but not if you're going to be embarrassing" Jeremy groaned getting up to follow Damon, Brea not far behind.

"When am I embarrassing?" she asked as they got in the car.

"All the time you psychopath," Jeremy replied with a smirk.

* * *

"You stay with me," Damon instructed as the three entered the Grill.

"But I want to meet her," Brea whined as Damon led her away.

"You'll meet her some other time, tonight is about getting that journal back," he lectured

"Oh, there she is," Brea squeaked and tapped Damon's arm when she saw Jeremy meet a girl. The girl then turned around just enough so that Brea could see her face and Brea's eyes widened. "Annabelle," she whispered.

_"_ _Have you thought any more about what I've said," Pearl asked Katherine._

_"_ _We'll leave soon Pearl, I promise," Katherine replied as she smelt some of the elixirs in the shop. "I need to take care of a few things first."_

_"_ _You're going to turn both of them, aren't you?" Pearl asked disapprovingly._

_"_ _Katherine, we're meant to be being discreet for multiple reasons," Brenna hissed, "turning two men in a town already suspicious of vampires will draw attention, attention that we do not need."_

_"_ _Katherine, please. Be careful," Pearl warned._

_"_ _We'll all be safe, I promise. Mr Gilbert's coming," Katherine said excitedly for Pearl. "Quick, your cheeks," Katherine giggled as she pinched, "perfectly rosy," she approved before Pearl turned around to greet Jonathan Gilbert._

_"_ _Miss Pearl," Jonathan Gilbert greeted. "May I have a moment?"_

_"_ _Yes, Mr Gilbert. I'm still waiting for you to explain that comet in the sky," she said as the pair left the apothecary store._

_"_ _Well would you look at that Annabelle," Brenna said, turning to the young girl with a smile._

_"_ _Your mother has an admirer," Katherine finished smiling as Annabelle and Emily giggled together._

"Damon, that's…" Brea stuttered.

"I know," he replied in shock. "Come on," he said taking Brea's hand and getting up, quickly exiting the Grill.

* * *

"Damon in case you're forgetting, I'm human and this is dangerous, this is breaking and entering. We could get arrested, we could go to jail Damon! I don't want a record, it will follow me wherever I go. Plus we could be walking into a den on vampires where they're all waiting to just jump out and kill me," Brea groaned as he broke into the motel Anna was staying in. "How did you find this place anyway?"

"I followed her scent. I'll protect you Brenna don't worry. Besides, vampires don't live in dens."

"Damon she was turned a good 4 centuries before you, she's stronger," Brea protested.

"And how do you know that hmm?" he asked getting in her face.

"I don't know," she stuttered.

"Yes, you do Brenna. That's why you're helping me. Not because of Stefan and Elena but because you want your sister, Katherine, out of the tomb."

"Elena's my sister. Elena. I'm a 17-year-old human I don't have a vampire sister."

"Brenna, I heard Elena telling Stefan about your dreams, I know you're having more and more memories flood back in dreams. It does you no good to live in denial and ignore them, you're better off letting it in, shhh," he hushed and he pushed Brea behind him and quickly backed them both into a corner. As soon as Anna opened the door Damon attacked her, slamming her against the wall. She immediately went on the defence and lashed out and grabbed a hold of his neck in retaliation. After a moment of struggling with each other Damon groaned out, "ok I give, ok, damn," and they both released their choke holds on each other. "You're strong for a little thing," he teased.

"Told you so," Brea piped up, coming to stand next to Damon.

"I was wondering how long it would take you two to find me."

"How long have you been here?" Damon asked

"Noah was with you, wasn't he?" Brea asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I told him not to bother you and your sister," Anna said remorsefully.

"See," Brea nudged Damon. "I was right about the den thing."

"Two vampires doesn't make a den," he scoffed before looking back at Anna.

"I arrived around about half-past comet," she continued. "Watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb. I also heard all those really cool theories you suggested to Stefan about Brenna here. You really have no clue do you?"

"Wait, theories?" Brea asked looking at Damon. "Are you and Stefan talking about me?" she asked him crossing her arms. "Hang on," she said turning to look back at Anna, "you know who I am?"

"We were best friends in 1864, duh, you told me all about your little curse."

"Curse?! I'm cursed?"

"You'll find out in good time," Anna shrugged, ending the conversation.

"How'd you know about the spell?" Damon asked.

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

"So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths now?" he asked.

"I like to use others to do my dirty work," Anna shrugged, pushing past Damon.

"Like Logan Fell?" he realised. "Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

"You turned Scumfell?" Brea asked angrily. "Why would anyone want to immortalise him?"

"Logan was an idiot," Anna sighed. "We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his families journal. I couldn't let him die."

"What'd you want with the Fell journal?" Brea asked curiously.

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And, according to this…" she said holding up the Gilbert journal, "he gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

"Why would I help you?" Damon smirked,

"Damon," Brea whispered. "Surely a vampire who genuinely wants in the tomb is a better partner than the one you're hesitant to trust," Brea said referencing Stefan.

"Exactly, you and I both want that tomb open," Annabelle agreed, handing Damon the Gilbert journal.

"Sorry, I work alone," Damon dismissed, walking out of the motel room.

Brea stayed a moment longer to look at Annabelle curiously before she called out, "wait up," and ran after Damon.

* * *

"Damon, it's dark out here," Brea whined as she stumbled through the woods.

"Shh, if they're already there, they'll hear us coming if you keep yammering," he said as they walked closer to the cemetery. "Well, what do you know?" Damon called out as the pair found Elena and Stefan opening Emily's grimoire. "This is an interesting turn of events."

"I can't let you bring her back, I'm sorry," Stefan apologised.

"Why not?" Brea hissed angrily.

"I'm sorry too," Damon said to Stefan. "For thinking for even a second that I can trust you."

"Oh, you're not capable of trust," Stefan scoffed. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you two were planning on doing this by yourselves."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself," he snapped. "Brenna being on my side was just a happy accident."

"Hey!" she protested.

"The only one I can count on is me," Damon said angrily. "You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you…" Damon said turning on Elena. "You had me fooled." Elena looked down guiltily. "So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

Brea's eyes widened at this threat, "Damon."

"You won't kill her," Stefan said confidently.

"Damon," Brea began to panic and she sensed a shift in his demeanour. Only a moment later he ran and grabbed Elena. "Damon!" she screamed running forward.

"I can do one better," Damon snarled, biting his wrist and slamming it over Elena's mouth. As Brea reached Stefan, he stuck his arm out to stop her getting closer in case it pushed Damon over the edge. "Give me the book, Stefan or I'm snapping her neck, and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

"Stefan, give him the book," Brea screeched.

"Let her go first," Stefan pleaded.

"Book, drop it," Damon demanded.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will," Stefan begged and Damon just moved his head gesturing for Stefan to put the book down. "Ok," Stefan agreed, cautiously bending to put the book on the ground, not breaking eye contact with his brother.

"Damon, please," Brea pleaded on the verge on tears, Damon's eyes then softened and he leaned in to smell Elena's hair before letting her go as she ran to Stefan and Brea. Stefan and Elena then ran off quickly. "Got the grimoire?" Brea asked and he nodded. "Good, you're on your own now, I hope you're happy," she snapped and then stormed off after Elena.

* * *

"Aspirin must be downstairs, is my head supposed to hurt like this?" Elena asked searching through the medicine cabinet as Brea sat on Elena's bed.

"You'll be fine," Stefan reassured from the bathroom doorway, "that was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."

"Are you ok?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Damon was right. This is, uh… this is my fault. I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that. This is my fault."

"You got her captured?" Brea whispered from the bed and Stefan nodded making her look down sadly.

"You didn't do anything wrong, don't forget that," Elena reassured.

"Ok," he said as Elena grabbed her head in pain. "I'm going get you that aspirin," Stefan said leaving the room.

"Stefan," Brea said running out after him. "She's right, it wasn't your fault." Stefan looked down sadly and nodded before heading downstairs. Brea turned to go back into Elena's room, "now I'm not happy with you, but you have a headache and were attacked by a psychopath so I'll leave it till tomorrow…" Brea said as she entered Elena's room to find Anna standing over Elena's unconscious body.

"I was really hoping you'd stay out there a little longer," Anna smiled as she walked towards Brea. "You're my friend and I know the rule is not to lay a finger on you, but it's just a needle so it won't hurt too much I promise," Anna said before stabbing Brea's arm with a needle causing her to pass out into Anna's arms.


	18. Fool Me Once

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

_"_ _Annabelle, please let me in on your secret," Brenna begged as she sat outside with Annabelle stitching patterns into cloth._

 _"_ _Just concentrate Brenna, it's not hard," Anna laughed._

 _"_ _Could you help me please, Emily? I fear I am a lost cause," Brenna asked as Emily smiled and took her stitching to try and salvage it. "Honoria Fell is coming," Brenna said to Anna, "you should go warn your mother and my sister," Brenna instructed, knowing Pearl was in the apothecary arguing with Katherine and Damon._

Brea woke up to Elena shaking her. "Wha…" she groaned but Elena slapped a hand over her mouth and pointed to a man sleeping in a chair in the corner of the motel room. Brea's eyes widened and she nodded at Elena who slowly removed her hand. Elena grabbed onto Brea's hand and the girls moved as quietly as they could towards the front door. Elena reached up to the chain lock on the door and slowly started to slide it across as both girls frantically kept looking back to check that the man still asleep.

As soon as Elena had slid the lock all the way across a voice spoke from behind them, "I wouldn't," he warned and Brea and Elena spun around with a gasp. Brea immediately recognised the man, his name was Ben, he was a few years older than them and he was meant to have gone out on a date with Bonnie last night. "Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?" Ben tried compelling Elena.

"I understand," Elena lied.

"Now I'm not allowed to touch you," Ben smirked to Brea, "but don't do anything stupid. Because I can hurt your sister," he warned. Ben then walked back to his seat, the sisters met each other's eyes, nodded and spun around to run out the door. As Elena opened the door, Anna was on the other side and threw Elena back in the room, not touching Brea.

"Seriously?" Anna snapped at Ben.

"I told her not to move. I did that eye thing you taught me," he defended.

"You forgot the lesson about vervain. She dates a vampire Ben, duh," Anna admonished.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Elena snapped.

"Does it matter?" Anna asked before throwing Elena into the bathroom.

"Leave her alone," Brea snapped.

"Seriously Brenna. Do not push me," Anna said dragging Brea to sit on the edge of the bed.

* * *

"Ben, the tap's on in there," Anna said to Ben as Brea sat angrily, arms crossed on the bed.

"So?" Ben asked.

"So we can't hear them, Ben! Bring Elena out here," Anna snapped. Ben's eyes widened and he ran into the bathroom.

"Do not hurt my sister Annabelle I am warning you," Brea threatened

"Or what?" Anna challenged. "I mean Katherine's not here to defend you anymore. I don't have to follow that whole, 'don't touch Brenna' rule. But you're my friend so I'm not going to hurt you, can't say the same for your sister though," Anna said as Ben threw Elena out of the bathroom. "Well, well. Elena Gilbert. You really are Katherine's doppelganger. You must have the Salvatore boys reeling," she teased.

"Who are you?" Elena asked.

"I'm Anna. Your brother may have mentioned me. I mean we're like practically dating," Anna said with a smirk.

"What? No, leave Jer alone Anna, I'm serious," Brea snapped, getting up to stand next to Elena.

"Bonnie's not gonna open the tomb," Elena told Anna.

"Oh, I think she will," Anna said.

"Bonnie's here?" Brea asked as Elena nodded.

"Do you really want Katherine out that bad?" Elena asked.

"Trust me. No one I know wants to see that girl again, except Brenna and Damon. Love struck-idiot," Anna rolled her eyes.

"Then what is it? Or who is it?" Elena asked.

"My mother's in there," Anna admitted.

"Her names Pearl," Brea whispered to Elena.

"Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both of the Salvatore brothers despite everyone's protest. And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."

"I'm sorry," Elena said thinking of her and Brea's mom.

"You really mean that, don't you?" Anna asked and Elena nodded. "Yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding, so you can start serving a purpose."

"Which is what?" Elena asked.

"Leverage." Anna grabbed a phone from the desk, "this belong to you?" she asked as Elena reached out for her phone. "Ah-ah," Anna chastised as she began dialling and had a conversation with no doubt, Stefan, on Elena's phone instructing him where to meet her to discuss getting Elena and Brea back. Anna ended the call and smirked at the two girls and only a moment later, Brea's phone started ringing. "Oh for god's sake," Anna laughed as she looked at the caller ID. "Damon's calling you, it's seriously like 1864 all over again," Anna groaned before answering it. After a while, she hung up, "change of plans, Brea, you're coming with me to meet Damon," Anna said to Brea, making her stand up from her seat on the bed. Anna then walked over to the bathroom door and banged on it, "I'm leaving, come out," she yelled and Ben walked out of the bathroom holding on to Bonnie.

"Hey Bon," Brea greeted with a small wave which Bonnie returned unenthusiastically.

"Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence," Anna instructed.

"Right. I got that," Ben smiled.

Anna then grabbed Brea's arm and pulled her to the door. "Wait, no don't hurt them!" Brea pleaded as Anna dragged them away from the motel.

* * *

"Why does Damon want me back and not Elena and Bonnie?" Brea asked as she walked with Anna through the town square.

"Oh come on Brenna. You two were good friends, if he wasn't chasing after Katherine he was running around after you," Anna scoffed.

"Anna!" Jeremy called out from the Grill. "Hey, what happened to you last night?" Jeremy asked, running up to Anna and Brea. "Hey Brea, why are you with Anna?"

"Anna kidnapped me," Brea answered.

Jeremy laughed, "I swear Brea, sometimes you're actually funny."

"Sorry, I had to leave," Anna said to Jeremy. "I told your sister to tell you."

Jeremy then gave Brea an annoyed look, "no she didn't, she kidnapped us both."

"Elena then? I- uh, haven't seen her," Jeremy said to Anna.

"We gotta run, so..." Anna said looking around.

"Do you wanna go to a party tonight?" Jeremy asked her.

"Jer, maybe you should bring a date that's not your sister," Brea whispered loudly.

"Shut up Brea, Anna?" Jeremy said, dismissing his sister.

"Do I what?" Anna asked.

"The guy that's throwing it, is a total douche…"

"Oh, Duke's throwing a party?" Brea asked, knowing immediately who he was talking about.

"Yeah, but it's, uh, it's supposed to be fun. I figured, you know, safety in numbers," Jeremy joked ignoring Brea.

"So you're finally ready to go out with me, are you?" Anna asked.

"Well, it's been a while since I've been to a party and I kind of want to get back out there. And not be such a loner. And, uh, I like you."

"This is getting awkward," Brea said shifting uncomfortably. "I'm gonna wait over there," Brea said walking a few feet away to sit on the park bench, taking notice of Anna's intense stare as she made sure Brea didn't get away. After a little while, Anna joined her on the bench. "Please don't hurt my brother," Brea asked.

"Would it make a difference if I said I actually kind of like him?" Anna asked.

"Not even if you meant it," Brea said crossing her arms.

"Got a hot date, or are you just planning on nabbing the entire Gilbert family?" Damon asked as he sat down next to Anna, Brea let out a yelp, having not seen him approach them.

"A party, right next to the old cemetery. Isn't that nice of them? Lots of warm bodies for starving vampires."

"Leave them alone," Brea growled.

"I told you. I work alone," Damon hissed.

"You work with Brea."

"That's because I trust Brea," he smirked, "I don't trust you."

Anna huffed before saying, "I usually work alone too. But you're minus a witch and I'm minus a spellbook. So what do you say?"

"Stefan will come after you, you know that. For messing with Elena and Brea," Damon told her.

"Then he won't be too happy if I kill Elena when I don't get what I want," Anna said getting up and walking away leaving Brea with Damon.

"No, don't, do not do that!" Brea yelled after her. "Please! Please! Damon," she begged.

Damon grimaced and then called out "when do you want to do this?"

"God, it's like 1864 all over again," Anna laughed as she turned back around."You Salvatore's are truly pathetic when it comes to women. Fawning all over Katherine and Elena and the both of you doing whatever Brenna asks when she bats her eyelashes at you."

"That's rude," Brea muttered crossing her arms in irritation.

"Tonight. After sundown. Meet at the church," Anna said walking off.

Brea stared after her, "did she forget to take me?" she asked confused.

"I said I wouldn't even show up here if she didn't give me you. Here," Damon said handing Brea her phone. "Grabbed it off her, thought you'd want it back."

"Thank you," Brea said looking at him curiously before taking her phone. She'd missed calls from Caroline and texts from Jenna, Matt, Tyler and Jeremy.

"Let's go," Damon instructed, pulling on her elbow gently.

"Where?" she asked as she began to follow him.

"My house. We need to get ready for tonight."

* * *

Brea was sitting on a couch in the Salvatore Boarding House, flipping through one of Damon's book when Damon spoke up, "I'm gonna have to change the locks."

"What do you mean?" Brea asking turning around only to lock eyes with her sister. "You got out!" she gasped happily.

"Did you stage a jailbreak?" Damon asked.

"Stefan," Elena answered in explanation.

"Uh, brother. Ever the white knight," Damon mocked.

Brea looked between Elena and Damon and began to feel very awkward at their tension, "I'm just gonna wait outside," Brea said, awkwardly leaving the room and walking out of the house. "Stefan hey," she greeted when she saw him leaning on the verandah.

"Hey Brenna," he smiled. "I was worried about you. Elena and Bonnie said Anna took you. How did you get away?" he asked.

"Damon, he called her. Said he wouldn't meet her unless she gave me back. I don't know why but he got me out I guess."

Stefan looked at her carefully before he began, "Brenna, I…"

"I'm so confused, Stefan," she cut him off. "No one is telling me what I need to know. I don't know who or what I am. I have these dreams I don't understand. I know people I've never met before. I'm just so angry at it all Stefan," Brea snapped, sending the pair into a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Elena, hey, how'd it go?" Stefan asked as Elena walked out the front door, breaking the quiet.

"He's going to work with us, are you ok Brea?" Elena asked her irritated sister.

"I'm fine," Brea nodded, storming off to the car.

* * *

Damon, Elena and Brea were walking through the party in the woods to reach the tomb. "The Duke party. I forgot," Elena said. "I hope they stay away clear of the church."

"Your hope, not mine," Damon retorted making Brea hit his arm playfully.

"Brea, Elena, hey!" Matt called out.

"Quick, duck and run, duck and run, maybe he didn't see us," Brea jokingly yelled as Matt fake glared.

"Elena, Brea! Oh my god. Where have you been?" Caroline asked bouncing up next to Matt and taking his hand awkwardly.

"Long story, no time to tell it," Damon snarked.

"Wasn't talking to you," Caroline muttered.

"Sure you were," Damon smirked.

"Elena and I were kidnapped today," Brea said and Elena looked at her incredulously.

"I know you can think of a better joke than that Brea," Matt said rolling his eyes before sticking his hand out for Damon, "we haven't met. I'm Matt."

"Matt, there's a reason we haven't met," Damon dismissed, making Brea stomp on his foot causing him to hiss in pain and glare at her. "You two and I are going that way," Damon said pointing the twins in the direction of the church.

"Sorry!" Brea yelled out back to her best friends as they walked away.

"I'm sorry guys," Elena also said.

"Ty!" Brea yelled spotting Tyler across the bonfire waving.

She went to walk towards him when Damon grabbed her and lifted her off the ground, turning her in the direction he wanted her to be walking in, "moving along, you can see him later."

"This sucks. Duke's parties are actually meant to be fun," Brea moaned as they walked away from the party.

After a while of walking, Damon spotted Stefan, Bonnie and Sheila and whistled. "Brother. Witches," he greeted.

"Everything ok?" Stefan asked the girls.

"I just wanna get this over with, are we ready?" Elena moaned.

"I guess so," Bonnie agreed reluctantly.

As they all entered the church ruins, Sheila began lighting torches that symbolised the four elements. As Sheila started pouring a drink bottle on the ground Brea asked with a smile, "is that it? Water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?" Sheila asked.

"I thought it'd have to be blessed or mystical or something," Elena answered and Brea nodded in agreement.

"Yeah like holy water or from the fountain of youth or something like that," Brea said and Sheila gave the two girls a sweet smile.

"What's that?" Stefan asked as Damon pulled a blood bag out of his jacket.

"Ew gross," Brea whined.

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless your girl here's offering up a vein to tap," Damon said nodding his head at Elena. "Admit it… you can't wait to get rid of me," Damon whispered to Stefan.

"I can't wait to get rid of you," Stefan agreed without pause.

"We're ready," Bonnie announced before she and Sheila began chanting.

"What are they saying?" Damon asked.

"Sounds Latin," Stefan guessed.

"I don't think it's Latin," Elena disagreed. The flames from the torches then grew bigger and Elena clung onto Stefan, "what's happening?"

The tomb door then swung open, "it worked," Bonnie whispered.

"Of course it worked," Sheila chided.

"That was spooky," Brea spoke as she peered her head to look at the entrance to the tomb.

"We have some fires to build," Damon said to Stefan.

"I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back," Stefan said to the Elena who nodded and then walked over to Brea and grasped her hand nervously.

"You two ready?" Damon asked.

"What?" both Elena and Brea said confused.

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" Damon asked dragging the twins to his side.

"Don't take them in. I'll bring the walls down," Sheila warned.

"Hey," Brea protested.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't, you think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you," Sheila goaded.

"Enough, both of you," Elena snapped. "Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not gonna shut the door when he gets inside. I get it, I'll go, but Brea stays out here."

"Fine," Damon said grabbing a torch and walking into the tomb.

"Woah, Elena, no, I'm coming with you," Brea argued, following her twin into the tomb and grabbing back onto her hand. "No way was I letting you go in here alone." Elena just gave Brea a small smile as they quickly caught up to Damon.

As they went deeper into the tomb voices began whispering, "what is that?" Elena asked panicked.

"They can sense you both," Damon answered. "Now, where is she?" Damon muttered, running off to find Katherine leaving the girls by themselves.

"Damon!" both girls whispered scared.

"Damon?" Elena asked again as they walked through the tomb trying to find him.

"Damon you douchebag get back here or I'll get Jeremy to beat you up!" Brea weakly threatened. "Damon!" she hissed.

"Damon!" Elena called out in fear as the whispers then got louder again. Elena waved her flashlight around and it lit up a desiccated body and the girls shrieked and clung to each other in fright. Everywhere they turned there were desiccated vampires and the twins quickly began to panic. After a minute of frantically spinning around, Elena tripped, dragging Brea down with her.

"You idiot," Brea groaned as they hit the ground.

"We're on someone," Elena whimpered, making Brea freeze as Elena focused her flashlight to show that they had landed on a desiccated male vampire. Elena slowly raised the flashlight up until it reached his face, as soon as it did, he opened his eyes to look at them. In shock, both girls screamed in fright and hurriedly picked themselves up off the ground and spun around only to find themselves face to face with Anna.

"Anna!" Brea gasped in shock.

"You must have a taste for it. You scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it," Anna said to Elena whilst slowing stalking toward them. Elena then started walking backwards and bumped into someone's legs, "mother!" Anne gasped, running toward her. "Your boyfriend did this, you know," Anna hissed at Elena.

"His father did," Elena tried to explain.

"And Jonathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life." Anna said and Brea started to push Elena behind her as they slowly backed away from Anna. "I had Jeremy all ready to go but…" the girls turned to run but Anna was already right in front of them.

"I guess now is a good time to tell you we're adopted," Brenna chuckled nervously. "We're fake Gilbert's. Not real Gilbert's."

"Likely story," Anna scoffed. "You should leave Brenna, if any of these vampires come back to life no one will be able to stop them from coming for you," Anna said before shoving Brea out of the way and onto the ground, "but I need your sister," she growled, as she grabbed Elena and dragged her over to her mother.

"Anna please!" Brea pleaded, but before she could do anything, Anna bit into Elena's wrist and Elena let out a bloodcurdling scream. No!" Brea yelled getting quickly up off the ground and running at Anna, but Anna managed to hold Elena's arm to Pearl's mouth and hold Brea back at the same time.

"Please don't!" both Elena begged as both sisters tried to reach for each other.

"I'm gonna get you out," Anna comforted her mother, Pearl.

"Let her go!" Stefan yelled throwing Anna off of Elena before Brea and Stefan both hauled Elena up off the ground. "Go, go I'll be right behind you two," Stefan encouraged, pushing them away and neither girl hesitated, they grabbed each other's hand and ran out of the tomb as fast as they could.

"Elena," Bonnie started as they exited the tomb, "Stefan…"

"He's right behind us," she said turning around to see Stefan standing in the doorway. "Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it," Bonnie assured.

"What is it? What happened?" Brea asked.

"I can't," Stefan answered.

"Can't? Ca-can't what?" Elena asked desperately.

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out… yet," Bonnie said sounding guilty.

"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out? Oh my god," Elena cried in disbelief.

"I heard you scream," he explained with tears in his eyes.

"We can't leave him in there. We all promised him," Elena said in reference to Damon.

"I know," Stefan agreed.

"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long," Sheila explained and Stefan ran off to find Damon. Bonnie and Sheila then started chanting the spell that would release the seal.

"I think it's working," Elena said after a while walking towards the entrance, but as soon as she saw Anna coming through Elena jumped back.

"I just want my mother back. Jeremy's fine, he's outside. We won't touch him," Anna explained as she supported her mother out of the tomb.

"Hi Pearl," Brea whispered to the newly awakened vampire.

"Brenna dear," she croaked, shakily reaching forward to stroke her cheek. "Oh, how I missed you," she said before Anna helped her out of the church ruins.

The flames then started to falter around them, "Bonnie keep going!" Sheila ordered. "They better hurry," she warned the twins.

"Stefan, they can't hold it much longer," Elena screamed into the tomb before turning around and noticing one torch's flame was completely extinguished.

Brea groaned as she saw her sister's worried face, "come on," she said, taking her Elena's hand and running back into the tomb. "Damon!" Brea yelled as they spotted the Salvatore brothers.

"Please," Elena pleaded with them, hoping they'd get a move on and leave the tomb. Damon looked devastated as he shrugged his jacket back on and started walking out and the girls and Stefan ran behind him as they raced to get out of the tomb. Just as they exited the tomb, the door slammed shut and Elena pulled Stefan into a hug.

Brea walked up to Damon and took his hand and whispered, "where is she?"

"She wasn't in there," he said a look of despair on his face, Brea then immediately pulled him into a hug which he didn't return and her own eyes filled with tears as she let him go. "Jer," she said softly to Elena and the twins and Stefan then proceeded to run outside to see if he was ok.

"He's ok," Stefan confirmed after giving the unconscious boy a look over. The three then turned to face Damon, Elena walked up to him and gave him a hug exactly like the one Brea just gave him, as he stared blankly into space.

* * *

"How's your head?" Elena asked Jeremy handing him an aspirin and a glass of water as he sat on his bed with Brea.

"Uh, it's uh, it's alright," he said rubbing his forehead. "I just… I wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear."

"You don't remember anything?" Elena asked.

"The whole thing's pretty cloudy. I just… I know how this looks. I'm, I'm sorry," he said sadly.

"No, Jer, it's ok, you're fine," Brea reassured.

"You don't need to be sorry, you didn't do anything, ok?" Elena added and he nodded. "We've got to head over to Bonnie's for a little bit, but is there anything that you need?"

"Oh, no, I'm just… I'm gonna crash."

"Okay, well, Jenna's here, and we'll be back soon," Elena said.

"Actually Elena, I'm, I'm gonna stay," Brea told her and Elena just nodded before walking out of Jeremy's room. "Ok, Jer, I'm going to bed as well, goodnight," she smiled as she left his room. As she started walking to her room she stopped at the top of the staircase when she heard the doorbell ring and Jenna went to answer it. "Tyler?" Brea asked confusedly as she saw him swaying in the doorway in front of Jenna.

"Ok, I feel like as guardian I should step in here or, something" Jenna said nervously. "I don't really know what to do. Do you got this?" she asked Brea and Brea nodded. "Right, amazing, he's all yours," Jenna nodded as she walked back off into the kitchen while Brea ran down the stairs.

"Ty, are you ok?" she asked as she reached the doorway

"Brea, sweetheart, I've never been better," he slurred and he just about fell on top of her.

"Wow, how drunk are you?" she asked helping him to the couch.

"Oh please, I'm not even drunk," he dismissed giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Ok, just ugh stay there, I'm going to get you a water," Brea said wiping her cheek before she stomped off to the kitchen.

"Wait, could you get me a beer instead?" he called out after her and she glared at him through the wall.

"Is something going on there, with you two?" Jenna asked as Brea got into the kitchen, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"Oh god, no Jenna! He's Tyler, that's like incestual," Brea laughed filling a glass of water at the tap. "Plus, he's Chad's best friend, so that's a whole other level of weird," Brea said as she started to walk back to the living room.

"Oh, speaking of Chad, he swung by here earlier, and called... twice," Jenna said.

"What!" Brea asked stopping in her tracks, turning around and quickly walking back to Jenna.

"Yeah he showed up not long after Damon picked you girls up, wanted to know if you needed a lift to the party tonight, I told him you had already left with Elena and Damon and gosh Brea, he looked so sad," Jenna laughed as Brea's eyes widened. "Then he called later to make sure that you were going to the party because he couldn't find you. Then he called again to let me know that Matt saw you guys earlier, so I shouldn't panic. Then he asked me to call him when you get home so he knows you're safe, of course. Gave me his number too," Jenna laughed waving a piece of paper in the air, "jealous?" she giggled.

"Bugger," Brea groaned, "Why can men be so difficult Jenna? Tyler was meant to get him to back off. I'll text him and let him know I'm home, there's no way I'm calling him," Brea said walking back into the living room only to find Tyler asleep already. Brea sat down on the coffee table, leaving the water glass near Tyler and pulled out her phone to text Matt.

B - How drunk are you?

M - Bit tipsy, why?

M - Didn't see you again tonight? Where'd you go

B - Tyler has fallen asleep on my couch, but if you're tipsy, don't worry about it, he can just stay here.

B - And yeah it was a bit of a rough night, just wanted to get home, I'll talk to you tomorrow though, get home safe x

Brea then texted Chad.

B - Hey Jenna said you were looking for me, just wanted to let you know I got home a while ago, so all good. You alright?

Chad texted back almost instantaneously.

C - I missed you tonight. Can I come over now? We can chat or something.

B - I think I'm just gonna get some sleep sorry Chad, I'm pretty tired. Plus I got a drunk Tyler asleep on my couch, it's been a big day, I'll see you tomorrow though

Brea then huffed putting her phone down as Jenna walks past making kissing faces causing Brea to roll her eyes. Brea went and got a blanket and put it over Tyler before heading upstairs and going to sleep.


	19. A Few Good Men

"Brea, Brea," a voice whispered shaking her awake.

"What… what… Ty?" she asked as she groggily opened her eyes only to see it was still dark out.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about last night, I just wanted to let you know I'm gonna take off, my dad will kill me if he finds out I'm not home."

"Sure Ty, I'll see you tomorrow," Brea muttered, dropping her head back down onto her pillow and falling back to sleep.

_"_ _Let me go!" Brenna screamed at Nik. "Now!"_

_"_ _Let's go, love, I'm not going to let you get caught up in this," Nik growled, dragging Brenna away from the vervain disabled vampires._

_"_ _She's in there Nik! I have to find her, I have to help her! Let me go! KATERINA!" Brenna screamed._

_"_ _Katerina?" he asked, pausing for a moment._

_"_ _Nik, no. Please. You're not to touch her! Just let me help her! Please Nik."_

_Nik hesitated before shaking his head, "_ _I'm not letting you put your self in danger by going after her. She's as good as dead and I will not risk your life, you're worth more than her, sorry love, let's go!" Brenna then bit Nik's hand to get him to release her in shock for a short moment as she tried to make a break for it. "Dammit Brenna!" he yelled as Brenna got away and started running towards the carriage she had just watched her sister get thrown into, but before she could get far Nik ran up to her and grabbed her, making her scream in anguish._

_"_ _Vampire! Vampire! Over there! Attacking the poor girl," yelled Jonathan Gilbert upon seeing Nik's incredible speed._

_"_ _Sorry love, time to go," Nik whispered before running Brenna away from Mystic Falls._

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

"Move over," Brea snapped, arguing with Elena over the porch swing.

"I was here first, why should I have to move?" she countered.

"Because you've been there for ages, it's my turn."

"I shouldn't have to move because you want a turn, it can be your turn when I'm done," Elena snapped.

Brea scowled at her sister before she sat down on Elena's feet, "I'm not moving so you better move your feet."

"You're so annoying," Elena groaned, pulling her feet out from under Brea, leaving room for Brea to sit uncomfortably. "It's just not fair Brea, Bonnie's grams was the only person who could understand her, you know with the magic and all. Why do good people have to die?" she asked, kicking out at Brea's hand to try and stop her shoving her feet. "I'm going to try and call her again," Elena muttered, pulling out her phone. "Hey Bonnie, it's me. Just checking in. Seeing how you're doing. We miss you here, don't let your aunt drive you too crazy, come home soon, we love you," Elena said leaving a voice mail as Aunt Jenna walked up the porch.

"What are you two doing out here?" Jenna asked.

"Arguing and pondering," Brea answered.

"Arguing and pondering? Good combination. It's cold outside though," Jenna noted bemusedly.

"Brea's the one arguing. I came out here to thinking, to write," Elena groaned. "Activities that have been rudely interrupted," she said with a glare at Brea. "The, uh, funeral for Bonnie's grandma, it brought back a lot about mom and dad. I was wondering. You said that you would do some digging about them, the adoption," Elena asked.

"Right," Jenna nodded slightly uncomfortable.

"Did you?" Brea asked.

"Dig?" Elena added.

"Come on inside," Jenna said with a small smile at the girls. "Your dad kept everything from his medical practice," Jenna said at the kitchen table "records, logs, old appointment books. I found an entry from the night you two were born. A patient and a birth date." Elena and Brea rushed over to look at the book. "Isobel Peterson."

"Do you think that's her real name?" Elena asked.

"Probably not, I don't think pregnant teen runaways really want to be traced," Brea shrugged.

"Exactly," Jenna agreed. "The first name maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So, I looked it up. I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel. Found three. Two men and a woman, Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

"That's not far from here," Elena said excitedly.

"Well watch this," Jenna said typing into her computer and then clicked a picture with a woman named Isobel and Trudie.

"Isobel, she was a cheerleader," Elena breathed.

"That must be her," Brea said mesmerised. "I mean we're such amazing cheerleaders it would make sense our biological mom being the same," she winked at Jenna.

"Trudie still lives there," Jenna smiled before handing Elena a piece of paper. "This is her address."

"What about Isobel?" Brea asked.

"I couldn't find anything about her. Listen there's something else, Mr Salztman, Ric, his wife was from around here, and her name was also Isobel."

"That would be too weird if they were the same woman," Brea said confused.

"Wait. 'Was,' as in…" Elena said picking up on the wording.

"She died," Jenna explained.

"Well," Brea said, breaking the morbid tension, "you could get a job at the FBI Jenna, that was some top-notch stalking you've done there."

* * *

"Come on, let's go," Elena called out as she ran downstairs grabbing her bag and keys.

"To where?" Brea asked as she followed.

"We're going to visit Trudie," Elena said with a smile.

"Yes! I am so in!" Brea cheered, running with Elena to the car.

* * *

"What if Alaric's wife and our Isobel are the same person?" Elena asked as they drove. "I couldn't handle her being dead before I get to know her, it'd be too much."

"I know Lena. We've been through enough," Brea agreed.

Brea's phone then buzzed with a text from Matt.

M - My mom just walked in on Care and me!

B - OMG! No way! Kelly's in town! You weren't having sex where you? That'd suck

M - NO!

M - Just a little couch action

B - Matt, sunbdwnkkj

"Hey!" Brea yelled at Elena as her phone was snatched away from her.

"We're here, phones away," Elena shrugged.

"I was just texting Matt," Brea mumbled getting out of the car and following Elena up to the porch. "Knock, Lena, knock," Brea urged as Elena stood staring at the door. Brea then reached over and knocked loudly, causing Elena to panic and turn around to leave. Brea grabbed her shoulder and spun her sister back to face the door just as it opened.

"Trudie?" Elena asked. "Tru-Trudie Peterson?"

"Yes," she said nodding.

"Uh, our names are Elena and Brea Gilbert. We wanted to ask you about Isobel Flemming," Elena said as Brea remained silent.

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years," she said with a smile. "How do you know her?"

"We think that um…" Brea started but then trailed off.

"Do you know if she had twin babies that she gave up for adoption?" Elena asked saving her flailing sister and Trudie's eyes widened.

"My God," she breathed. "You're her daughters," she said with a laugh. "I was just gonna make some tea. Would you like some?

"Sure," both girls said with a smile.

"Uh, the kitchen's this way," Trudie said directing them into the house.

"We weren't going to come," Elena explained. "I mean we didn't think we were, but she's our birth mom, she's a part of us. It's a part we'd like to get to know."

"We had your address, we're so sorry for barging in," Brea apologised with a smile.

"It's no problem," Trudie said. "Um, just a surprise, though," she said as they all sat down. "I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Elena asked.

"About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you two. We kept in touch for a while, but, well, you know, people drift apart."

"And you don't know where she ended up?" Brea asked.

"She was in Florida for a while. She was on her own. I know it wasn't easy," she said sadly.

"Do you have any idea who our father is?" Elena asked.

"I could never get her to fess up," Trudie said carefully. "Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship."

"Where did she go?" Brea asked leaning forward in interest.

"Somewhere in North Carolina. Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school," Trudie said as the twins smiled at each other and took each other's hands, leaning on each other happily. "Let me just get that," Trudie said getting the kettle as it boiled.

"This is so exciting," Brea said momentarily throwing her hands around Elena's neck before they separated.

"I just can't believe we're finally getting to know about our birth mother!" Elena said with a giggle. "So Isobel was a cheerleader?" Elena asked Trudie as she arrived back in the dining room.

"Yeah she was," she said pulling out the yearbook. "The crowd came for us, the football team hadn't won in years. We were the stars. Well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup."

"This is great. Thank you," Elena said genuinely.

"You're welcome," Trudie smiled.

"Elena and I were both cheerleaders for a while so this is very exciting. I really appreciate you telling us this," Brea told her.

Trudie touched the twin's hands affectionately before pointing out, "neither of you has touched your tea."

"Oh yeah," Elena muttered before the twins both took a sip out of the mug. When they tasted it they frowned immediately, after the way their lives had changed in the last couple of months, they were both very familiar with this herb. "What is this?" Elena asked.

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture," Trudie shrugged nervously.

"Vervain?" Elena asked. "You know," she realised.

"Know what?" Trudie asked, her eyes widening.

"You didn't invite us in," Brea realised. "You invited us for tea but you didn't say come in."

"You're serving two strangers vervain tea," Elena continued. "You know," she pushed.

"I think that you should both probably leave," Trudie said as she began to panic.

"Wait. What are you not telling us?" Elena asked confused at the turn of events.

"Please leave," Trudie said more urgently. "Now!" Elena and Brea then stood up and grabbed their coats sadly before leaving the house.

"Well, that turned from awesome to very disappointing very quickly," Brea mumbled.

"She's scared of something," Elena suggested as they walked to their car, just as they were about to get in they turned around to see a man standing in the middle of the road staring at them so they got in the car quickly and Elena drove them away.

* * *

"That's a good look for you," Jenna said straightening Ric's jacket as the three of them entered the Grill that night.

"What? Embarrassing and uncomfortable?" he asked with a laugh.

"Yep. That's the one," Jenna giggled.

"Yeah, I'm gonna- I'm gonna go," Brea said feeling awkward before spotting Elena enter the Grill and ran towards her. "Thank god you're here, Jenna was getting her flirt on with Ric and it was disgusting to watch."

"Oh god," Elena laughed, "glad I could help you out. There's Matt and Caroline over by the ticket booth," she pointed out and they made their way over.

"Hello lovebirds," Brea greeted.

"He's already been hit on, like, 35 times, he's total cougar bait," Caroline said about Matt as soon as the girls approached them.

"Impressive," Elena said with a smirk.

"I've been saying he was cougar bait for years," Brea laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Haven't I Matthew?"

"Unfortunately she's telling the truth," he grimaced.

"Hi, Mrs Donavan!" Caroline piped up squeakily as soon as she saw Matt's mom. Both Matt and Brea made a quick snicker at her nervousness.

"Elena, honey! Oh, and darling Brea, hello, hello" Kelly said happily hugging the twins.

"Hi Kelly," they both say kindly.

"Long time no see."

"How are you doing?" Elena asked.

"Oh, same old. Oh. Matty tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom," Matt interjected embarrassed yet again.

"Just kidding, calm down. He found his rebound girl," Kelly said side-eyeing Caroline causing Brea's smile to drop in anger. "Oh here you go, sweetheart, however many that'll buy," Kelly said passing Caroline money for tickets for the night's bachelor auction. "I just hope I don't get bachelor 3. I dated him in high school. Not impressive," she said before whispering, "in any way," as Elena gave a small laugh and Caroline handed Kelly her tickets. "Thank you, very exciting," Kelly said walking off.

"Let's go find Jenna," Elena suggested as the raffle started.

"I'll meet you over there in a minute," Brea said before leaning over to Caroline and whispering, "just ignore Kelly, she can be a bit of a bitch. You come with me," she said as she pulled Matt away a few feet before flicking him on the nose.

"Ow, what the hell?" he asked.

"Defend your girlfriend, you moron. Caroline is a sweetheart and you know she won't defend herself against your mom but that kind of talk will just play on her insecurities. Don't be such a noob," she lectured before walking over to Elena who had just walked away from Stefan.

"Oh my god," Elena breathed. "I just found out. Stefan managed to get a picture of Alaric's wife Isobel. Brea, it's Isobel Flemming. Our birth mom. Ric's wife is our mom."

"Oh my god," Brea stuttered, pushing her hair back. "I can't believe it. We just found out who she was… and now… she's already dead," Brea realised sadly. "Look I... I don't want to be insensitive, but I really want to have a good night Lena. We both deserve it after the month we've had. Lets just... can we talk about it later, please? Let's just go sit with Jenna and try to have a good, fun night for once."

* * *

"So what do you do bachelor number 3?" Mrs Lockwood asked as she introduced the next bachelor.

"Yeah, I'm a plumber," he replied into the microphone.

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers," Carol Lockwood said, trying her best to sell him to the crowd. "Moving on. Number 4, Alaric Saltzman," at this both Elena and Brea started nudging Jenna's arm madly.

"Wolf whistle Jenna, wolf whistle," Brea teased and Jenna giggled.

"Wow, that's quite a mouthful," Carol laughed. "What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High," he answered.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies. This one's a keeper. What do you teach?"

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls something crazy," Carol asked and Ric froze, unsure how to answer. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date," Carol covered up. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit onto a card," he smirked.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, LA, New York. A couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina, near the Duke campus, actually. I think Alaric went to school there, didn't you Ric? Yeah, cause I know your wife did." As soon as Damon said this both Elena and Brea stopped smiling and sat up straight, he knew their birth mother. "I had a drink with her once. She was a great girl. Did I ever tell you that? Cause she was… delicious." As soon as Damon said that both Elena and Brea's eyes widened. Damon had just confessed to killing her. Both their eyes immediately started tearing up, Damon killed their birth mother.

"Are you ok?" Jenna asked noticing their change in demeanour.

"Air," Brea croaked.

"We just need some air," Elena chocked as the girls got up, grabbed each other's hands and ran outside pushing past Stefan on the way.

"Elena, Brea!" he called out as he followed after them.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?" Elena snapped in anger as Brea paced up and down the sidewalk.

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body," Stefan told them as Brea stopped pacing and leaned against the wall hyperventilating.

"Oh my god," Brea whimpered.

"I know. I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you two, but I just- I wanted to know more first."

"We were feeling sorry for him," Brea growled, stalking over to the couple. "We wanted to be his friends but he killed her!"

"We hoped this whole Katherine thing would change him. That was so stupid," Elena admonished herself.

"He doesn't know about the connection to you both. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge," Stefan tried to reason.

"Why are you protecting him?" Elena accused.

"We shouldn't have to walk on eggshells around him!" Brea yelled.

"You both aren't the only ones hoping that he might actually change," Stefan said sadly.

Brea then noticed a man standing behind Stefan, the same man who had been outside Trudie's house. Brea nudged Elena's arm and gestured with her head, making her sister look and spot the man. "That man," Elena spoke up, causing Stefan to turn around and look at him. "We saw that man outside of Trudie's."

"Get back inside, come on," Stefan said ushering the girls indoors.

* * *

"And bachelor number 3 goes to 37458," Carol announced.

"That's me," Kelly called out.

"Ah, Kelly Donovan. Lovely," Carol said scathingly over the microphone.

"Serves the bitch right for the way she spoke to Care," Brea mumbled her head resting in her hands.

"You and the plumber should have so much fun," Carol said.

"I always have liked Carol," Brea said. "She doesn't sugar coat things."

"She is one scary woman," Jenna agreed, as she stroked Brea's hair and watched her concerned.

"Bachelor 4 goes to 37649," Carol said.

"That's me!" Jenna said, happy that she had won a date with Ric.

"Congratulations," Carol smiled.

Just as Jenna was about to stand up, Brea pulled her arm. "You owe Jeremy and me big time. We bribed Carol with 3 months of fortnightly carwashes to pull out your ticket."

"Thank you!" Jenna breathed, kissing Brea on the cheek before she ran off to claim her 'prize'.

"Bathroom, I can't sit here any longer and pretend things are ok," Elena said getting up and walking off leaving Brea to follow her. As the girls walked around the corner Elena walked straight into Damon.

"Whoa. Easy there," Damon smirked as Brea yanked Elena back towards her while the girls glared daggers at him. "Buy a ticket like everyone else," he joked.

"Did you enjoy that?" Elena hissed.

"You pompous, arrogant pig," Brea insulted.

"Woah, woah, what's happening here?" he asked confused. "Enjoy what?"

"Rubbing it into Alaric Saltzman," Elena explained with malice.

"What?" he asked with a frown.

"Just as we were starting to think there was something redeemable about you," Elena hissed.

"Elena, Brea," Stefan said coming up behind Damon trying to stop them.

"Am I missing something here?" Damon asked looking between the three of them.

"Um, let me think. Well aside from the fact Ric is going to be our future uncle, we may have forgotten to mention to you that we found out who our birth mother is," Brea said, her knuckles going white as she clenched her fist.

"Elena did mention that actually," Damon said leaning forward with a smirk.

"The one that gave us up?" Elena continued. "Her name was Isobel." As soon as Elena said that Damons face paled and his smirk dropped as he realised what was happening. "Go ahead reminisce about how you killed her," Elena snapped, taking Brea's hand and pushing past him and heading back outside.

"Come on, let's get the both of you home," Stefan said following them outside before he reached forward and pulled both the twins back noticing the man from before standing in front of them.

"I have a message for the twins," the man said.

"What?" they both asked confused.

"Who are you?" Stefan asked keeping a hand in front of each girl.

"Stop looking," the man said to the girls.

"Stop looking for what?" Brea asked moving forward, only to be pushed back gently by Stefan.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you," he continued

"Isobel," Elena breathed as she worked out who the man was referring to.

"You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

"She's alive?" Brea asked.

"Does that mean she's a-?" Elena tried to ask before Stefan signalled her to stop.

"Elena he's under compulsion," he told her.

"Do you understand?" the man asked more forcefully.

"Yes. I do," Elena said.

The man then turned to Brea and stared at her, "I- I understand," she nodded.

"Good. I'm done now," he said before stepping back into the path of an oncoming truck, making the girls scream in fright and Stefan quickly turned them both into his arms so they wouldn't see the carnage. After the shock left the three ran to where the man lay under the truck, as Stefan ran to the body Brea watched as Elena leaned down and picked up a cell phone from the ground before pocketing it. Brea gave her a look and Elena shrugged her shoulders and held her finger over her lips.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on," Stefan said dragging the girls away from the gruesome scene.

* * *

Brea sat on Elena's bed as they stared at a photo of themselves with their parents. "Why did life have to get so complicated?" Brea breathed as she rested her head on Elena's shoulder as Elena huffed in response. Elena then picked up the phone from earlier that she had pocketed. "What do you think is on there?" Brea asked.

"I don't know," Elena said as she flicked through to recent calls. "Do you think we should call it?" Elena asked as she looked at the number and Brea nodded as Elena called it and put it on speaker.

"Was there a problem?" a woman's voice answered on the other line. "Did you find them? What's going on?"

"Isobel?" Elena asked and as soon as she did, the dial tone went.


	20. There Goes The Neighborhood

"Yo Brea!" Tyler called out in the hallway.

"Yo Shrek!" Brea called back to him and he laughed and immediately ran up to her.

"Where did that come from?" he asked, slapping his hand over his chest in feigned pain.

"It just felt right," Brea laughed back before she began glaring at her sister. "Oh my god that nasty little girl."

"What did Elena do now?" Tyler asked with a smirk.

"I told her I was wearing that jacket today, and then she goes and wears the same jacket. That's not fair."

"Why don't you both just go shopping together? That way you won't double up on everything," he suggested.

"Because then we'd argue over who gets to keep it because we'd both want it. We're not that good at sharing clothes."

"Oh really! I had no idea. It's not like I've never heard you two yell at each other about clothes," he said sarcastically leaning next to her locker.

"Oh my god, I am going to kill her!" Brea hissed as she got a better view of the top Elena was wearing.

"Now this is too funny," Tyler laughed aloud. "You're wearing the same top as well? You really are twins."

"Give me your jacket," Brea demanded.

"What?"

"Come on Ty. Hand it over."

"No way. I like this jacket."

"I'll give it back. It's not worth a day of torture when everyone starts teasing us for wearing the same clothes. Come on, please Ty," Brea begged.

"Fine," he huffed taking off his jacket and handing it to her, as he was in the middle of handing over the jacket, his attention got drawn elsewhere. "Woah, Chad is not happy," he said as he noticed Chad glaring at the pair.

"Huh?" Brea asked turning around to catch the eye of Chad who was standing down the other end of the hall. She lifted her hand in a small wave to him which he returned quickly before he stormed off.

"You should talk to him," Tyler suggested.

"What about?"

"Us."

"Us?" Brea scoffed. "There is no us."

"I know that."

"So the problem is what?" Brea asked.

"I dunno. But he got really pissed at me for falling asleep on your couch the other week. He's been ignoring me ever since," Tyler shrugged as they began walking to class. "He said that if we're going to start dating to just tell it to him straight," he said with a laugh.

"You're joking!" Brea gasped. "He was never jealous of our friendship when he and I were actually together, why care now?" Tyler just shrugged, not having an answer.

Elena grabbed Brea's attention as they walked past and pridefully announced, "I'm having fun tonight!" 

"Urgh Lena, what you and Stefan do in your own time is none of my concern," Brea groaned, trying to shake the image out of her head.

"Wha… no. That's, not what I meant," Elena hurried to say. "I'm just, going out. Like real fun. Fun. You know, fun fun," Elena rambled and Brea and Tyler raised their eyebrows at her rambling. "You know what I mean, bye," she said hurriedly before running off.

"Sometimes I don't know how we are related," Brea laughed as she stared after her embarrassed sister.

"Oh, I can see it alright, you're both slightly insane" Tyler joked.

* * *

The doorbell to the Gilbert house rang and Brea opened it. "Oh Stefan, are these flowers for me! Why thank you, aren't they just…" Brea started before being pushed out of the way by Elena. "Ow," she muttered rubbing her arm.

"You got me flowers," Elena exclaimed as she took them from Stefan.

"You know Lena, they might have been for me. You should never assume," Brea jokingly admonished her sister.

Elena smiled at her and pulled out one of the flowers handing it to her sister. "There you go," she giggled.

"I love it!" Brea smiled as she took the flower from her sister.

"I figured it's a date. Why not do it right?" Stefan said with a smile as he walked in and kissed Elena.

"Ah, gross," Brea said. "JEREMY! Oh little brother!" she yelled running up the stairs and barging into his room. As she did, he quickly flicked off whatever was on his computer screen. "Urgh, I don't want to know. Look Stefan got me a flower," she said as she waved her flower at him.

"Yeah, right," Jeremy snorted. "What'd you do? Tackle Elena for one flower?"

"You're mean today," she accused and Jeremy just shrugged. "Come out with me?"

"No."

"Wha... yes, come on, Grill. Now," she said grabbing Jeremy by his hood and dragging him on his desk chair across the room.

"Ok, ok. I'm coming, just let go of me you freak," he groaned, getting up and following her out the door.

* * *

Brea was jumping up and down trying to get her brothers attention as they walked into the Grill, "take off the headphones! Come on Jer!"

Jeremy, however, was too tall and she couldn't rip them off his head. "Stop or I'll leave," he warned.

Brea and Jeremy eventually sat inside at a booth. "Ty!" Brea called out as she spotted him playing pool and waved him over to their booth.

"I'm gone," Jeremy snapped, quickly storming off.

"What's his problem?" Tyler asked

"He's grumpy today."

"Want a burger?" Tyler offered.

"Oh my god!" Brea gasped, ignoring his question as she pointed at her aunt who was getting drunk at the bar.

"Woah! Go, Jenna," Tyler cheered.

"No don't encourage her," she laughed, slapping his arm. "She is a responsible role model now."

"Oh, yeah, wild Aunt Jenna is a role model is right. I love it. I want to be just like her when I grow up."

"You're an idiot!" Brea laughed. As she and Tyler were laughing, she was suddenly yanked out of her seat by her arm.

"Brenna!" a man hissed in her face.

"Easy dickhead, let her go," Tyler growled trying to shove the man off of Brea, but he was too strong and wouldn't relent.

"How are you alive?" the man growled.

"Who are you?" Brea snapped before her eyes widened. "Fredrick," she gasped as she realised that she recognised him from her 1864 dreams. "Let me go," she said struggling even harder. She didn't really know who he was, but she knew he was unpredictable and dangerous and had always hated her and Katherine.

"Dude I am so close to punching you," Tyler threatened. "Let her go now before I kick your ass."

"No Ty, don't!" Brea said quickly, not wanting him to get hurt, because Frederick was likely to attack him.

"I don't see Katherine protecting you now," he smirked before he looked over her head. "Or is she? I'll get back to you later," Brea turned to look to follow his line of sight when she saw Elena exiting the bathroom. Fredrick aggressively threw her back into the booth before walking off towards Elena.

"Brea," Tyler said running to her side. "What the hell. I didn't want to hit him, I'm sorry. He had a grip on you, I didn't want him to hurt you. I should've done better. Where the hell is he?" Tyler growled turning red with rage.

"I'll be back," Brea stuttered, sitting up ready to race over to her sister.

"Whoa Brea what the hell was that!?" Chad asked, running over to her booth. "Who was the dude? Where is he? I'm gonna kill him."

"I'm with you," Tyler agreed as both men looked around for Fredrick. Brea scanned around the Grill and couldn't see him anywhere. She Elena standing with Stefan by the pool table and Stefan was looking around the Grill frantically, like he was searching for someone.

"I'll be back," Brea repeated, quickly scurrying away from Tyler and Chas. As she tried to speed over to Elena, she was intercepted by a slightly tipsy Aunt Jenna. "Jenna, really?" Brea groaned, she needed to get to her sister.

"Did you just fall into your booth?" Jenna giggled.

"Wait, what?" Brea asked with a frown.

"I looked over and you were face down in the booth."

"Oh right, um, Jeremy pushed me. Yeah he did, he's been very mean to me today."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense, I saw Jer ditch you ten minutes ago. Have you been drinking? Look at me, how many fingers am I holding up?" Jenna rushed to say.

"Jenna, you're not holding any fingers up…" Brea sighed.

"Oh right, that was a trick question," she said before raising her hand, "how about now?"

"Jenna, that's a fist, not fingers," Brea said raising her eyebrows.

"Oh wow, so it is. You're right. Ok, you pass," Jenna said giggling.

"Ok look, Jenna, you look like you're having fun. But I gotta go ask Lena something so I'll see you later," she said sidestepping her aunt and racing up to Stefan and Elena. "A guy just attacked me!" Brea whispered to the couple.

"Which guy?" Elena asked clearly already shaken.

"I think the guy who just confronted you. He hauled me out of my booth and demanded to know how I was alive. He said he'd come back for me! Stefan, I think he was a tomb vampire."

"No. No. That's not possible," Stefan said shaking his head.

"Stefan, it was Fredrick," Brea whispered and Stefan's eyes went wide.

"Fredrick?" Stefan asked and Brea nodded. "I remember him. He and his girlfriend always hated Katherine and Brenna. Look Elena's with me so she'll be safe, I need you to get home. Get Tyler over there to take you. If he said he'll come back for you, then you need to get somewhere he won't be able to enter, like your house." Brea nodded and then walked back to her booth where Tyler and Chad were still angrily muttering.

"Hey, I'm gonna head home I think. Give Jer some hell for ditching me," Brea told the boys.

"Yeah, no worries. I'll take you home," Tyler said getting up.

"Yeah, me too," Chad said, also standing up.

"Guys, I only need one car. Not a convoy," Brea awkwardly laughed as she went to walk out.

"I'll do it," they both offered before scowling at each other.

Brea didn't want to upset either of them so rather than pick she said, "actually I might just walk." As she said that she noticed Fredrick lurking in the shadows and she took a deep breath. "Actually on second thoughts… there's Jenna about to drive off in a cab. I'll just get in that with her," Brea said running to the cab whilst keeping an eye on Fredrick.

"Niecey!" Jenna sang hugging Brea.

"Did she give you an address?" Brea asked the driver.

"Not yet."

"It's just 2104 Maple Street. Not far."

"No worries," the driver said before driving off.

* * *

The whole car ride consisted of Aunt Jenna trying to get her niece to dance with her. As they pulled up at the house Brea gave the driver money and then threw herself out of the car trying to get away from her clingy Aunt. "Jeremy!" Jenna hollered as they got inside.

"Jenna. Hey, uh, what's, uh… what's up?" Jeremy asked as he jumped out of the kitchen. He kept looking back into the kitchen nervously, making Brea tilt her head.

"Regret," Jenna smirked. "Make sure you lock that up," Jenna said, gesturing to the back door that was wide open before she headed upstairs. Brea hung back suspicious of her brother's behaviour. As soon as he thought the girls left he flung himself back into the kitchen and Brea ran after him.

"Ah ha!" Brea shouted, expecting to catch him in the act of doing something he shouldn't be. But he wasn't doing anything, he just had pulled out materials for a sandwich.

"What's up?" Jeremy asked Brea a bit more sadly.

"Seriously! You're trying to hide the fact that you're making a sandwich from Jenna and me," Brea laughed. "God times have changed from the days where you were taking drugs," she smiled before gasping, "oh my god!" Brea snatched up Jeremy's hand which was bleeding profusely. "What the hell did you do to your hand! This is why mom never let you handle knives, you idiot!" Brea said concerned grabbing his hand and holding a washcloth to it to try to stop the bleeding.

"It was an accident," he mumbled. As soon as it stopped bleeding she put a bandage on it and Jeremy went to bed.

Brea went to the cupboard and grabbed a cookie before heading upstairs. As she entered her room and shut her door she screamed out as she saw Anna standing in the corner of her room, "oh my god what the hell!"

"Don't yell, please," Anna begged, racing forward and placing a hand over Brea's mouth.

A loud bang then sounded on Brea's door and both girls spun around to face the door. "Owwww" her aunt groaned.

"Just give me a minute," Brea whispered to Anna before racing to the door and opening it to find her aunt flat on the ground. "You alright there, Aunt Jenna?" she asked.

"Yeah, owie, you screamed so I ran to save the day."

"Um, right. I um, stubbed my toe," Brea lied.

"Oh yeah. That hurts when that happens," Jenna groaned from the ground.

"Need a hand there Jenna?" Brea offered.

"No thanks, I'll just crawl back," Jenna said dragging herself back to her room.

"Ok, good night Jenna. So Anna, not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Brea asked, closing her door and turning back into her room waiting for her to explain why she was here.

"I just thought. I mean, you're my only real friend Brenna. I mean besides your brother but that's… complicated. I just, I thought you'd like to know more about who you are, and I guess... how you are is the best way to phrase it."

Brea immediately stood up straight. "Yes, yes. I need to know. You have to tell me whatever you know."

"Ok," Anna said sitting down on the bed. "Maybe you should just ask some questions? I don't know how to go about this."

"Am I Brenna from 1864?" Brea immediately asked.

"Woah, that was quick, um yeah. You are."

"How?" Brea asked, desperate to know.

"You told me all about who you are. About a century before 1864 when we were making our way through Prague."

"Before? I knew you before 1864?"

"Yeah, you were travelling with Katherine around that time. And you know, my mom was best friends with Katherine. So we spent quite a lot of time together before we came to Mystic Falls in 1864."

"How is that possible? I'm only human. I don't understand."

"You told me about how many many centuries ago a witch put a curse on you."

"A curse?" Brea's eyes widened.

"Could you let me finish? It'll make more sense, if you don't interrupt," Brea just nodded and Anna continued. "So you said that around the year 1000, a witch put a spell on you. Apparently, you were in love with her son who got turned into a vampire. You told me that he couldn't live without you. So the witch spelled you so that every time you died, you would come back to life again. So when you die, you reincarnate. Different family, a different life. But the same name, Brenna. You never really wanted to elaborate much more after that, but you said you never make it to the age of 22, you always get sick and die." At this Brea's face paled. She was already 17. "You ok?" Anna asked concerned and Brea just nodded her head. "Look, you hate this curse ok. You find either Katherine or this guy you love, you never told me his name. You get a few happy years and then you die. I'm sorry it's so morbid."

"What happens to the two of them when I die?"

"Well I know Katherine just gets straight to finding you again. You reincarnate on the same day every time, June 23rd. So she dedicates herself to finding you, she always has a witch handy to help. Katherine told me that she has to find you before your boyfriend or his family does. I mean your boyfriend hates her guts from the sounds of it. I don't know why. But she said that if she finds you first she can use a witch to cloak you, so he can't find you."

"Why would she want me hidden from him if he loves me?" Brea breathed.

"I overheard you and Katherine arguing about that once. Being with him, apparently, it's dangerous for you. He has a lot of enemies and that puts you in danger of being collateral damage."

"How am I related to Katherine?" Brea asked.

"You were sisters."

"How is that possible?"

"When you reincarnated one time, you were her twin sister it was in like, the late 1400's or something, when she was still human. It was just like you and…"

"Elena. That has to mean something. How can they look the same and both have me as a twin?"

"You don't seem all that phased by this," Anna noted.

"I, umm, I mean I've been having nightmares about my previous lives for months now. So it's not like I didn't know something was different about me. Stefan and Damon suspected this but we were never sure."

"I don't know how it's possible Brenna, I really don't. I don't understand it and you would always get upset when you tried to explain it."

"Do you know anything else about the man? The one I'm supposedly in love with?"

"Have you had dreams about him too?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, I think so, maybe," Brea muttered.

"All I know about him is that he is a very old vampire. Older than anyone I know. He has a family that you're very close with. He actually gave you that ring," Anna said taking Brea's hand to look at it. "To protect you. You told me all about it one night when you were missing him. Every time you're in danger the purple gem glows, he has a ring as well that you said glows when yours starts to, they're linked. Yours glows before the danger comes so that gives him time to get to you and help if he can. I'm sorry Brenna, you never told me anything else. You and Katherine were so secretive about that part of your life."

"Can you elaborate on that rule you were talking about the other day? You were, you know, holding me hostage at the time so I wasn't really listening when you were talking about it."

"Well you were the only human in a large group of vampires, and some of them wanted to, you know. Eat you. They didn't believe in carting a human around. Katherine killed a lot of the vampires who threatened you. That's why we planned to settle down in Mystic Falls. So they'd have someone else to eat, it'd keep you safer. Katherine warned us all that you knew the most dangerous vampires in the world, and if you were so much as scratched they'd spend the next 500 years torturing whoever touched you. Some of the vampires believed it, but not all of them. But no one was keen on crossing Katherine, she was a bit crazy. So no one touched you. But, Brenna, all the vampires from the tomb are out. Fredrick as well. I don't know if you remember but he hated you more than any of the others."

"I kind of do. I saw him today. He grabbed me in the Grill, he said he'd be back for me."

"Brenna, promise me. Do not go out after dark, not by yourself," Anna warned. "I'm serious. You cannot trust him not to go for you out of spite or hatred for Katherine." Brea just nodded. "Look I'm sorry to just spring this on you, but I have to go, um, see someone else."

Brea just nodded her head in slight shock and Anna smiled and left. Brea then pulled out her phone and texted Stefan.

B - 10 am, you, Damon, Elena and I are talking

S - Yeah, sure I wanted to talk about something as well. What did you want to talk about?

B - It's hard to explain, but it's important. I'll see you tomorrow

Brea then went to Elena's room to find her about to switch out her lights. "Hey, what's up?" she asked, seeing Brea obviously upset about something.

"Can I sleep in here tonight Lena?"

"Yeah, yeah, are you ok?" Elena asked. Brea just nodded and got in bed with her sister and proceeded to tell her sister everything that Anna told her before they went to sleep hugging each other.


End file.
